Robert Eggers Hates His $40 Million Horror Hit That Features Anya Taylor-Joy’s Debut

Summary:

• Robert Eggers earned international fame with only three extremely successful movies in his short filmography, but he doesn’t appear to be a real fan of his own directorial debut.
• According to the director, he doesn’t like to rewatch his 2015 horror folk movie starring Anya Taylor-Joy for one specific reason.
• Eggers’ revelations go in contrast with the film’s stunning commercial and critical success that eventually awarded the movie a solid 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Robert Eggers may not be able to boast of a vast filmography, but his directorial path is what many directors in Hollywood would like to have so much. Having directed only four movies, one of which is set to be released later this year, Eggers nonetheless is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers with all his films gaining an overall success.

And though his 2015 folk horror debut The Witch starring Anya Taylor-Joy brought him international fame, Eggers is very unlikely to ever rewatch his first directorial work again — for an understandable reason.

Back in 2022, in one of his interviews to The Guardian, the director revealed that he couldn’t stand watching The Witch several years after the film had been released — and the director’s decision to stay away from his own movie wasn’t related to its quality or the actors’ performances, but rather Eggers’ own approach for creating The Witch.

According to him, he wasn’t “skilled enough as a filmmaker” to transfer his idea to the screen in the right way. However, the experience that he had with The Witch seemingly still had a positive impact on Eggers’ directorial career from his personal point of view.

The director revealed that his later movies like The Lighthouse and The Northman had turned out to be much better in terms of his ability to convey the main idea — even though the latter wasn’t entirely what Eggers hoped it would be.

Robert Eggers’ revelations about his personal dislike for his stunningly successful debut come as a real surprise.

The Witch not only helped Anya Taylor-Joy enter Hollywood’s A-list of actors, but also grossed $40 million against the budget of only $4 million and received numerous accolades ending up with an impressive score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Source: The Guardian