Robert Eggers to Tap Willem Dafoe to Play Scrooge
Filmmaker Robert Eggers is aspiring to write and direct a new version of A Christmas Carol which the director hopes will feature Willem Dafoe.
Robert Eggers film regular, Willem Dafoe, may be teaming up with the acclaimed director of The Northman again for a new remake of A Christmas Carol. Warner Bros. is developing a new take on the classic Charles Dickens tale and Eggers seems to be the man to helm the project. Eggers just had a big box-office hit last holiday season with the remake of Nosferatu which made $95 million domestically and an additional $85 million internationally.
Willem Dafoe has appeared in several of Eggers’ films, including The Lighthouse, The Northman and, of course, Nosferatu. Dafoe was nominated for an Oscar for his work in The Florida Project several years back, but was snubbed in favor of Mark Ruffalo for his supporting work in Poor Things where Dafoe played a variation on Dr. Frankenstein. Dafoe was brilliant, but he has been honored with nods before dating back to his Oscar nomination for Platoon from 1986. Dafoe also ended up working on another recent movie with Yorgos Lanthimos who made Poor Things. It was called Kinds of Kindness.
This is not the first time A Christmas Carol has been re-imagined. In 2009, Jim Carrey was turned into a CGI version of Scrooge in a film helmed by Robert Zemeckis. That rendition of the classic holiday story earned a stunning $137 million domestically and $187 million internationally making it a successful hit at the box-office that gives us the impression that people would be interested in another rendition of the classic tale. In 1988, Bill Murray successfully played Scrooge in the hilarious modern (at the time) interpretation of the tale: The aptly titled comedy, Scrooged.
George C. Scott won accolades for playing Scrooge in a highly regarded TV version of A Christmas Carol from 1984. Eggers is expected to bring a lot to the table with his new version of the beloved Dickens classic. An emotional ghost story about greed and redemption, the Dickens holiday tale focuses on three ghosts who visit Scrooge and help him see the error of his ways: The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future (“Yet to Come”). Eggers is currently working on Werwulf for Focus Features, the studio where he made Nosferatu. Chris Columbus (Home Alone) will be producing the new version of A Christmas Carol.
Dafoe is a truly distinctive performer who has been known for compelling dramas throughout his prestigious career. If he gets to play Scrooge, it would be a dream come true for his fans who have enjoyed his work for about 40 years since he broke out playing his role in the Vietnam-themed Oliver Stone drama, Platoon.
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