The Northman Director Robert Eggers Isn't Counting Out Science Fiction Completely
Robert Eggers has made a career out of exploring the violence and horror of the past. In just three feature films, the director has captured the superstition, the isolation, the paranoia, and also the fart jokes of history, whether it's a 17th century New England Puritan family farm, a remote 19th-century lighthouse, or a Viking farm in Iceland. Indeed, his movies are difficult to both make and watch. From "The Witch" to "The Northman," these are uncomfortable, painful, horrific, but also incredibly entertaining historical fictions. Who else could give us the wonderfully weird "The Lighthouse" and its long prayers to Neptune, then follow that with a naked fight in a volcano that is also a lot like "The Lion King"?
But after three movies set in the past, Eggers seems to be ready for something new. While you shouldn't expect the director to helm a Marvel movie any time soon, don't rule out an Eggers movie set in the future just yet.
Only time will tell
Of course, no director would outright shut the door to a job opportunity before it even opens, but it is still fun to speculate. This is to say, when Robert Eggers spoke to The Wrap about his future, he didn't rule out exploring different genres.
"I could be interested in the early 20th century. And I would also, if I could figure out a way to do it that hasn't really been done before, in a way that would be satisfying for me, but I would also be interested in science fiction. I don't know if I could find the right thing. I don't know if I could pull it off. But I'd be interested."
Leaving no stone unturned, The Wrap asked if Eggers meant science fiction as in being set on a spaceship, to which Eggers simply teased, "only time will tell."
Now, it's hard to picture Eggers doing a bright and shiny "Star Trek" style sci-fi movie, but what about something like "Alien," which feels distinctively old, even if it's set in the future? I can definitely picture Eggers doing some sort of speculative future history movie and getting really gritty with it — while still keeping the fart jokes. He could even set his "Nosferatu" in the 23rd century and take it from there!
Keeping with the theme of experimentation, Eggers also commented on "The Northman" having a wider aspect ratio than his previous films, and whether he'd go wider.
"I know this is insane given the history of cinema, but I do find that close-ups in scope can be a little bit anemic. I'm not particularly drawn to it. I would be interested in doing a nearly vertical movie, but you'd need to make your own movie theater."
"The Northman" is playing in theaters.