Holiday movies often sparkle with joy, snow, and second chances. But every so often, a filmmaker peeks behind the garland and finds something stranger. Enter Robert Eggers, the auteur whose cinematic stocking stuffers include witches, sea-mad lighthouse keepers, and Nosferatu’s
chilling return. Now, whispers say he might unwrap a ghost story instead of a gift. The classic he is eyeing? One that already comes pre-haunted.
While most directors sprinkle snowflakes, Eggers reaches for fog machines, candlelight, and the uncanny. And this time, he might just summon a ghost named Ebenezer
Scrooge.
Holiday cheer meets eerie vibes as Robert Eggers reunites with a familiar face
The words “Robert Eggers
” and “Christmas cheer
” do not often collide in the same sentence until now. The filmmaker, who brought eerie folklore to life in The Witch
and The Lighthouse
, is reportedly in early talks to direct A Christmas Carol
for Warner Bros.,
.
The twist? He may enlist longtime collaborator Willem Dafoe.
Fans already imagine Dafoe trading ghostly warnings or muttering “Bah, humbug
” in dim candlelight.
“A Christmas Carol” by Robert Eggers (2028) pic.twitter.com/yQOtylafRT
— m (@cinedaenerys) June 11, 2025
There will be no jingle bells if Robert Eggers takes the sleigh reins. His flair for atmospheric dread could turn Charles Dickens’ Victorian fable into a psychological descent.
Picture fog-shrouded London streets, a ticking pocket watch echoing like a death knell, and spirits that do more than gently guide. Instead of cozy nostalgia, expect cinematic unease, crafted with period detail so precise it borders on the obsessive.
This is not your grandma’s Christmas classic; it is her fever dream.
Read More: Robert Eggers Sends a Surprising Thank You to SpongeBob for ‘Nosferatu,’ Sparks a Trip Down Memory
While Charles Dickens wrote spirits with a moral compass, Robert Eggers might write them with malice, as Willem
Dafoe’s eerie brilliance waits in the wings, ready to haunt Christmas future.
Willem Dafoe + Robert Eggers: A haunted holiday reunion?
Few actor-director duos do the uncanny quiet like Willem Dafoe and Robert Eggers. From cackling over lanterns in The Lighthouse
to channeling medieval dread in The Northman
,
Dafoe thrives under Eggers’ brooding vision. While nothing is confirmed
, an insider revealed to Deadline that Dafoe may step into the role of Ebenezer Scrooge
, a character who could easily turn spectral in his hands. Given their creative history, the question is not if he joins, but how terrifyingly he does.
Robert Eggers is reportedly working on a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol for Warner Bros.
He’s writing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge specifically for Willem Dafoe. pic.twitter.com/WBjT5uFY7F
— EggersFilms (@EggersFilms) June 11, 2025
Before donning his Victorian cloak for Charles Dickens, weird gift giver Robert Eggers
is slated to direct Werwulf
for Focus Features
, a horror project bound to be equally spine-tingling. But if A Christmas Carol
moves forward, it would mark his first project with Warner Bros.
And perhaps, the beginning of a new tradition: a holiday tale not lit by joy, but by ghost light and existential dread.
Read More: “A work of art”- Internet Swoons as Lily-Rose Depp’s ‘Nosferatu’ Audition Tape Surfaces Online
What are your thoughts on a horror-tinged holiday classic and Willem Dafoe possibly going full Ebenezer Scrooge? Let us know in the comments below.