We finally have our first official look at Robert Eggers’ “Werwulf” via Focus Features, and many are wondering, “where wolf?” Unfortunately, it’s just an image of a gloomy forest.
The good news is that our real, actual first look will arrive on June 29, which coincides with a full moon that evening.
Focus actually screened the first trailer for “Werwulf,” starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, and Bodhi Rae Breathnach, at CinemaCon in April.
The trailer opens with villagers dancing around a fire. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Lily-Rose Depp then arrive in a town where they are warned about a local werewolf legend. What follows is a rapid, nightmarish montage of images, including frightened townsfolk, desecrated graves, mauled corpses, and fleeting glimpses of an unseen beast stalking the countryside. The footage echoes the gothic horror style associated with Eggers, mixing stark black-and-white imagery with brief flashes of a werewolf transformation in the dark. The trailer builds toward its climax in a shadowy barn, where Taylor-Johnson’s character undergoes a violent transformation, convulsing, foaming at the mouth, and screaming as fangs emerge.
The film, which was shot on 35mm film in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio, comes off the immense success of “Nosferatu,” which was also unveiled around the same time of year in 2024. Eggers’ previous films include “The Witch,” “The Lighthouse,” and “The Northman.”
Eggers has described “Werwulf” as “the darkest thing I’ve ever written,” a bold claim given the unrelenting bleakness of his past work. One member of Eggers’ own sound team posted on BlueSky that he “needed a hug” after reading the script. If that’s any indication, “Werwulf” could make “The Witch” look like a bedtime story.
“Werwulf” is scheduled to hit theaters on December 25, 2026.
