Robert Eggers to Direct 'Romeo and Juliet' After Focus Features Wins Bidding War

Robert Eggers is turning his gaze to Shakespeare.

The director behind The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, and Nosferatu is set to write and direct a new adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Focus Features won the project in a competitive bidding war, beating out A24, Sony, and Warner Bros.

Faithful to the Era's Language

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the adaptation will have actors speaking Elizabethan English — the early modern English of Shakespeare's own time — with dialogue taken directly from the original play.

An earlier report suggested the film would use Old English, but that was subsequently corrected. Elizabethan English is the language Shakespeare actually wrote in, and it fits the 16th-century setting of the characters. It also continues Eggers' career-long commitment to period-specific language and meticulous historical authenticity.

The film is expected to be set in a painstakingly recreated 16th-century Italy, with a production budget approaching $80 million — one of Eggers' largest undertakings to date.

From Werewolves to Star-Crossed Lovers

Romeo and Juliet will be Eggers' next project, following his werewolf horror film Werwulf. That film, also distributed by Focus Features, is set for release this Christmas and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, and Willem Dafoe.

Speaking at a Q&A following a Werwulf screening, Eggers joked that back-to-back dark projects left him needing a break: "I was writing another horror film and it was getting really dark again, and I was like, 'I need a break. So, I'll just do two teenagers killing themselves.'"

It wasn't entirely a joke. Shakespeare's original is already steeped in bloody feuds, plague, obsession, and double suicide — themes not far removed from Eggers' usual territory.

A Continuing Partnership with Focus

The film further cements Eggers' relationship with Focus Features. The studio previously released The Northman and Nosferatu domestically, and handled The Witch and The Lighthouse internationally. Focus is also distributing Werwulf.

Casting has not been announced, and no release date has been set. But one thing is certain: this will not be a modernized take like Baz Luhrmann's 1996 version. Eggers has long maintained he will never make a film set in contemporary times.

Given Eggers' recent pace of roughly one film every two years, Romeo and Juliet is expected to reach audiences around 2028.