First Details of Robert Eggers’ New Period Horror ‘The Lighthouse’ Revealed
Ever since his fan-favourite breakout hit, The Witch, the horror community has been eagerly awaiting Robert Eggers‘ follow-up. For his next feature, Eggers has renewed his partnership with A24 to bring us The Lighthouse, a fantasy-horror story that he has both written and directed. Filming has now wrapped on the project, which stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.
Once again, it’s a period piece, set in 1890 and based around an aged lighthouse keeper in Nova Scotia. Never one to make things easy on himself, Eggers chose to shoot the piece on 35mm black and white stock. We first realised in The Witch that Eggers was willing to go to extreme lengths in order to capture an authentically vintage mood, insisting on period-accurate language throughout.
According to a recent interview with the film’s stars, Eggers’ commitment to authenticity can make for a challenging shoot:
“That’s the closest I’ve come to punching a director,” said Robert Pattinson. “However much I love Robert [Eggers], there was a point where I did five takes walking across the beach, and after a while I was like, ‘What the fuck is going on? I feel like you’re just spraying a fire hose in my face.’ And he was like, ‘I am spraying a fire hose in your face.’ It was like some kind of torture. It definitely creates an interesting energy.”
The film is produced by Rodrigo Teixeira, Jan Van Hoy, Youree Henley, and Lourenço Sant’ Anna. A release date has not been scheduled, but the film can be expected some time in 2019.