“NOSFERATU” SUMMONS CHILLING FIRST FOOTAGE OF VAMPIRE BILL SKARSGåRD

Count Orlock is ready to receive you.

True Blood's Bill Compton isn't the only famous "Vampire Bill" in Hollywood anymore. Enter Vampire Bill Skarsgård.

Chills ran through the CinemaCon crowd when the Focus Features panel unleashed the first footage of Nosferatu, director Robert Eggers' buzzed-about vampire horror-drama.

"As you'll see, this definitely ain't your father's Nosferatu and [Eggers will] surely bring new meaning to the term 'Christmas feast' on Dec. 25," Peter Kujawski, Chairman of Focus Features, prefaced before a clip screened for the room.

In this reimagining of the 1922 classic, Skarsgård takes another transformative role after It's Pennywise with Count Orlok, a vampire who becomes obsessed with Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), the wife of Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult).

"Come to me. Come to me, hear my call," Ellen pleads in the dark with her hands cupped in prayer, before an undead hand abruptly grabs her throat and she wakes in her bed.

Willem Dafoe plays Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz, whom Eggers described in a previous interview with Entertainment Weekly as "a crazy vampire hunter." Ralph Ineson's Dr. Wilhelm Sievers is "in many ways the Watson to Willem Dafoe's Holmes," added the filmmaker behind The Witch (2015), The Lighthouse (2019), and The Northman (2022).

Speaking with Dafoe's hunter, Ellen confesses that her dreams have gotten darker. "Does evil come from within us or from beyond," she desperately asks him.

The film is described as a gothic tale, and the footage leans into that aesthetic with dark, wintry scenes of a Victorian city. Hordes of rats scour the streets, as the vampire's zealot declares from inside his insane asylum cell, "He is coming."

While we don't get a clear look at Skarsgård's Orlok, he's not completely lurking in the background. As Hoult's Thomas enters the vampire's estate, we see shots of a grotesque Orlok sitting naked on the floor from behind. Later, the shadow of his spindly hand reaches out across the city, visualizing his possession of the locale.

The cast also includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin as friends of the Hutters, Friedrich and Anna Harding, who are also spotted briefly in the CinemaCon footage.

When it comes to Skarsgård's performance, Eggers told EW, "Aside from his eyes, it’s hard to find Bill. I’m trying to not give too much away, but Bill totally transforms into something that is very unique." He also said the actor worked with an opera coach to lower his voice an octave, saying, "People are going to think it’s all digital tampering, but he put in the work."

Nosferatu is set to open in theaters this Dec. 25.

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Related content:

• Willem Dafoe debuts as a 'crazy vampire hunter' in Nosferatu sneak peek
• Robert Eggers' Nosferatu bites down on Christmas 2024 release date
• Bill Skarsgård and Lily-Rose Depp in talks to star in Robert Eggers' long-awaited Nosferatu

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.

2024-04-11T00:39:14Z dg43tfdfdgfd