Summary

• Bill Skarsgård's Nosferatu could redeem the failures of past vampire movies, offering a fresh take on the iconic horror villain.
• The remake focuses on Count Orlok and the eerie atmosphere of the original, promising a spine-chilling experience for fans.
• With Robert Eggers at the helm, expect a visually stunning film that pays homage to the classic while bringing a new twist to the vampire genre.

Bill Skarsgård is quickly becoming one of the first names in horror, and his latest monster movie not be the first vampire Bill Skarsgård has played, but it could be his most iconic horror role since Pennywise in the 2017 remake of Stephen King's It. However, it's a more recent vampire movie that stands as the most direct comparison to Nosferatu, and its failure could be redeemed by Nosferatu's anticipated success.

While details like Nosferatu's release date have been revealed, there has been very little news regarding the movie's plot. Obviously it will borrow heavily from the 1922 German Expressionist film that it's based upon, but with Robert Eggers' unique attention to period detail and spine-tingling imagery added into the mix. The story behind Nosferatu, and its lead character Count Orlok, are based heavily on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, and it's the failure of another Dracula-related vampire movie that Nosferatu could atone for when it debuts in December 2024.

Nosferatu Can Redeem 2023's The Last Voyage Of The Demeter

Skarsgård's character is closer to the 2023 movie's version of Dracula.

2023's The Last Voyage of the Demeter focused on a specific chapter of Bram Stoker's Dracula, titled "The Captain's Log". It's the story of how the boat that ferried Dracula from his home in Transyvania to London, England came to be deserted when it arrived at port. The 2023 movie starred Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, David Dastmalchian, and Liam Cunningham, and despite its sizable budget ($45 million) and recognizable cast, it was a disaster at the box office. The Last Voyage of the Demeter mustered just $21.8 million, which is partially owed to its poor critical reception.

Javier Botet's vampire creature in The Last Voyage of the Demeter was actually mentioned as both Dracula and Nosferatu in the movie's credits.

Bill Skarsgård will play the villainous Count Orlok in Nosferatu, and his pale, long-fingered vampire comes far closer to the creature depicted in Demeter than Bela Lugosi's traditional Eastern European nobleman from 1933. While the new movie's story will not compare entirely to Demeter, it still looks like it will evoke similar story elements, such as Orlok's stalking of his prey (Lily Rose-Depp's Ellen Hutter). Bill Skarsgård's horror roles have by and large been successful over the years, so he stands a great chance of redeeming The Last Voyage of the Demeter by collaborating with Robert Eggers.

Bill Skarsgård's Nosferatu Can Break The Recent Run Of Bad Vampire Movies

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is not the only recent vampire box office bomb.

Nosferatu can redeem more than just The Last Voyage of the Demeter; the entire vampire subgenre has suffered in recent years when it comes to big-budget success. Many recent vampire movies have been astounding disappointments at the box office, with very few big-budget efforts failing to with critics either. For example, the vampire Morbius produced one of the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores ever for a Marvel character. Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult's Dracula movie Renfield was also a critical disaster, and Jamie Foxx's $100M Netflix vampire hunter movie Day Shift received middling reviews at best.

While the recently-released Abigail has been a hit with critics, financially it has continued the disappointing box office trend for horror movies. Nosferatu can go a long way towards reviving vampires in modern horror, which is sorely needed at the general box office despite a number of smaller-scale films being considered hits. Bill Skarsgård's status as a go-to horror star should certainly help make sure that his Count Orlok becomes a new classic horror villain when Nosferatu hits theaters.