Focus Features has released a new trailer for Werwulf, and it suggests Robert Eggers fans are in for another gothic Christmas.
Eggers, the director behind The Witch, The Lighthouse and Nosferatu, returns with a medieval horror film set in 13th-century England. Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as a man transforming into a monstrous creature, while Lily-Rose Depp plays his wife. Willem Dafoe portrays a knight determined to rid the countryside of wolves. The film also features dialogue crafted to suit its period setting.
- Director: Robert Eggers
- Producer: Robert Eggers, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Garrett Bird, Sjón
- Cast: Willem Dafoe, Lily-Rose Depp, Robert Eggers, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
- Screenwriter: Robert Eggers, Sjón
- Distributor: Focus Features
- Production Co: Working Title, Maiden Voyage Pictures
- Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
- Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 2026, Wide
In the trailer, Dafoe’s knight delivers a chilling declaration: “Every wolf shall die!”
Depp’s character, desperate to save her husband from his curse, pleads for help. “My husband… he is a good man. For the love, I bear him,” she says. “Please, make him safe from his cursedness.”
The preview ends with Taylor-Johnson shaking and looking toward the sky as his transformation into a wolf appears to begin.
The three actors are reuniting after starring together in Eggers’ vampire film Nosferatu, released in 2024 on Christmas Day. That movie grossed $180 million worldwide and received four Oscar nominations in craft categories.
The first footage from Werwulf was shown during Universal’s CinemaCon presentation in April, where it was billed as Eggers’ “most terrifying motion picture yet.”
Eggers co-wrote the film with Sjón, his collaborator on 2022’s The Northman. Producers include Eggers, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Garrett Bird and Sjón, while Chris Columbus, Eleanor Columbus and Bernard Bellew serve as executive producers.