Robert Eggers to direct Romeo and Juliet at Focus Features

Robert Eggers, the director known for period horror films including The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman and Nosferatu, is set to direct and produce an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at Focus Features, according to reports published on September 22, 2026. Focus Features won the project in a bidding war that also included A24, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, the reports said. The studio, part of Universal, has an existing relationship with Eggers: it released The Northman and Nosferatu and is set to release his upcoming film Werwulf. Eggers does not have a preexisting deal with Focus, according to the reports. The adaptation will feature actors speaking in Olde English, the reports said. One report characterized the choice as a departure from Shakespearean dialogue, while another described Eggers as sticking to Shakespeare's original script. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in the 1590s. The tragic romance tells the story of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, star-crossed lovers from feuding families in Verona, Italy. Specifics of the deal were not revealed, and Focus Features had no comment.