The terrifying and impeccably craftedThe Witchopened in theaters this past weekend, finally revealing the general audiences the tremendous talent of first-time filmmakerRobert Eggers, and in the wake of the film’s glowing reviews and solid box office, Hollywood has unsurprisingly come a-knockin’. Per Deadline, Eggers has been tapped to write and direct a miniseries about legendary Russian TsarGrigori Rasputinfor Media Rights Capital and producersJay Van HoyandLars Knudsen. Eggers will craft six to eight episodes that will cover the “mad monk’s” origins in Siberia to his rise to power and eventual demise.
Rasputin’s life is one that Hollywood has been trying to mine for years now, and for good reason. He was a Russian mystic and adviser to the Russian Imperial family the Romanovs in the early 20th century. Rasputin was called upon as a healer to Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra’s only son Tsarevich Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia. While Rasputin had a heavy amount of influence on the Romanov family, he also had his fair share of detractors who saw him as “a debauched religious charlatan.” His enemies tried to kill him several times by shooting him, strangling him, and stabbing him. He was finally assassinated in 1918 when he was drowned in the icy Neva River after having been shot in the back earlier that night.
After the phenomenal craftsmanship that Eggers displayed inThe Witch(which netted him Sundance’s Best Director award from a jury that includedCary FukunagaandEdgar Wright), I’m pretty much game to see him direct anything. The guy’s handle on atmosphere and mood, not to mention character, is masterful, and it’s no surprise that he’s separately developinga remake of the horror classicNosferatu.
It’s unclear if this will be Eggers’ next project. In addition toNosferatu—which he told uswon’tbe his next film—Eggers is also developing a medieval epic calledThe Knight. But as far as Rasputin is concerned, MRC’s miniseries could find itself in a race witha feature film chronicle of the mystic’s life, whichLeonardo DiCapriois producing with an eye to possibly star. Warner Bros. acquired the pitch fromAmerican SniperscribeJason Hallback in 2013 to develop for DiCaprio, but Hall is currently shooting his directorial debutThank You For Your Service, so it’s unclear how far the Rasputin feature is in development.
Eggers’ unique take onThe Witchsurprised some audiences, with the film landing a C- CinemaScore as those looking for a jump scare-heavy or gore-filled horror pic were no doubt disappointed. But what Eggers offered instead was something that truly gets under your skin—an unnerving, unflinching look at the nature of evil. That ambition, and the skill to pull it off, is why he seems poised to do some very big things in the near future, and why this Rasputin miniseries just became a highly anticipated project.
