‘The Lighthouse’ First Look: ‘The Witch’ Director Returns to Terrify Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe
Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are front and center in the first official look at Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse.” The black-and-white horror film is set to world premiere at Directors’ Fortnight next month, and the festival released the first image of Pattinson and Dafoe’s characters looking awfully weary. “The Lighthouse” was shot on 35mm film and has been described by distributor A24 as a “fantasy horror story set in the world of old sea-faring myths.” No more plot details have been revealed.
For Eggers, “The Lighthouse” marks a return to the big screen after the breakthrough success of his feature directorial debut, “The Witch.” The horror film was one of the biggest hits of Sundance 2015 and made a star out of leading actress Anya Taylor-Joy. “The Witch” is widely regarded as a modern horror classic, which is one reason anticipation is so high for Eggers’ latest. Fellow horror breakouts Jennifer Kent (“The Babadook”) and Ari Aster (“Hereditary”) are also debuting second features this year.
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In a discussion between Pattinson and Dafoe published by Interview magazine last year, the latter mentioned “the conditions were so harsh” on the movie’s set that the two actors “hardly talked outside of scenes.” Pattinson added the role was so demanding that he “hardly talked to anyone,” period. One scene forced Pattinson to get sprayed with water over and over to the point where it began to sting.
“That’s the closest I’ve come to punching a director,” Pattinson said. “However much I love Robert [Eggers], there was a point where I did five takes walking across the beach, and after a while I was like, ‘What the fuck is going on? I feel like you’re just spraying a fire hose in my face.’ And he was like, ‘I am spraying a fire hose in your face.’ It was like some kind of torture.”
A24 is set to release “The Lighthouse” in U.S. theaters but has not announced a release date yet.
Here’s a first look at Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe in Robert Eggers’ fantasy horror The Lighthouse, shot on 35mm black-and-white stock using equipment from the 1920s and ’40s pic.twitter.com/kUr7Ml5rJR
— Little White Lies (@LWLies) April 23, 2019
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