Nosferatu's Great Box Office Is A Huge Relief After Robert Eggers' $69 Million Disappointment

Robert Eggers' fourth feature film, the vampire nightmare Nosferatu, has already outperformed expectations at the box office, which comes as a relief after the relative failure of Eggers' previous movie. Like all of Robert Eggers' movies so far, Nosferatu has been met with excellent Rotten Tomatoes scores, and the box office return has reflected its perceived quality. Starring Bill Skarsgård as the vicious Count Orlok alongside Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, and Willem Dafoe, Nosferatu is already among the most successful vampire adaptations ever.

While Robert Eggers' movies have always garnered acclaim from critics, they have not all seen the box office success to match it. Eggers' debut movie The Witch, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, was an unquestioned hit as it made more than 10 times its very small $4 million budget, but his next two films failed to turn much of a profit at all. In fact, his movie before Nosferatu was such a failure at the box office (again, despite critical acclaim), that it cast some doubt over the chances that the vampire movie would be successful.

The Northman's Box Office Created Some Doubt About Nosferatu's Chances To Succeed

Despite Glowing Critical Reviews, The Northman Was A Certifiable Box Office Flop

Robert Eggers' historical action movie The Northman adapted the well-known legend of Amleth, a Viking prince dead-set on avenging his father, starring Alexander Skarsgård and an ensemble cast loaded with Hollywood A-listers. The bloody and violent action epic was met with effusive praise from critics for its jaw-dropping visuals, attention to historical detail, and powerful performances. However, none of the factors working in the movie's favor pulled people into the theaters; it managed just $69.6 million at the box office on a budget of $70-$90 million, confirming its status as a flop.

All Robert Eggers Movies - Key Details Movie Release Date Budget Box Office RT Tomatometer Score RT Popcornmeter Score The Witch February 19th, 2016 $4 million $40.4 million 91% 60% The Lighthouse October 18th, 2019 $11 million $18.3 million 90% 72% The Northman April 22nd, 2022 $70-90 million $69.6 million 90% 64% Nosferatu December 25th, 2024 $50 million $56.2 million (and counting) 87% 75%

The Northman actually performed very well once it hit the home market, topping most charts for rentals and purchases in its debut weekend for streaming and physical media. As usual, reports of the final combined total earned by the movie are conflicted, but no matter the performance outside the theaters, its box office return (or lack thereof) had many concerned that Nosferatu, which had a $50 million budget, would suffer a similar fate to The Northman, no matter the quality of the film.

Nosferatu Is Already Performing Much Better At The Box Office Than The Northman

The Horror Movie Made Its Budget Back In Roughly A Week

Fortunately, Nosferatu had no such trouble at the box office in its first week in theaters. Despite being released alongside perceived box office heavy hitters A Complete Unknown (the Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet) and Babygirl (the erotic thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson), Nosferatu roared out of the gate to a five-day domestic opening total of $40.8 million, far surpassing initial estimates of around $25 million. For comparison, The Northman managed just $34.2 million domestically in its entire theatrical run.

Robert Eggers considered several other high-profile actors for the role of Count Orlok, including Mads Mikkelsen, Daniel Day-Lewis, and even Willem Dafoe, who stars in Nosferatu as Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz.

In its first nine days, Nosferatu has achieved a global total of $56.2 million, meaning that it's already managed to recoup its total budget. It should have no problem surpassing The Northman's $69.6 million box office total in the next week or two, making it far more profitable despite having a lower budget. Those numbers don't include the home media totals, which should be significant for Nosferatu when it finally debuts on streaming platforms and physical media, especially with a Robert Eggers' extended cut release plan in place.

Why Nosferatu Is A Box Office Hit For Robert Eggers When The Northman Wasn't

Nosferatu's Timing And Built-In Horror Audience Helped It Succeed

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The Northman had a few factors working against its theatrical release, most notably the timing. A release in the middle of April alongside the highly-anticipated Nicolas Cage/Pedro Pascal feature The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which targeted a nearly identical audience, meant it had legitimate head-to-head competition in a hit-or-miss time of the year for moviegoers, with summer blockbuster season not yet underway nor any holidays to focus around. It also hit streaming platforms after being in theaters for just a few weeks, which further hurt its box office total.

Nosferatu managed to give Eggers the box office credibility he deserves, which should help in greenlighting future movies or his rumored TV series.

Nosferatu, meanwhile, had very little competition as the only major horror release around Christmas 2024. It clearly benefited from the built-in horror audience that The Northman lacked, and more people off of work meant more potential for casual moviegoers to check it out, especially with the hype around Bill Skarsagård's transformation and performance as Count Orlok. Nosferatu not only managed to continue Robert Eggers' streak of high-quality films, it managed to give Eggers the box office credibility he deserves, which should help in greenlighting future movies or his rumored TV series.