Robert Eggers will direct and produce a new adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" for Focus Features, according to a source who says the studio is closing in on a deal to distribute the film. THR first reported the project.

The deal, if it closes, keeps Eggers within the Focus family once again. Every film he has made has been released by the label in some form. Focus distributed "The Northman," "Nosferatu," and the upcoming "Werwulf" domestically, and handled international releases of his debut "The Witch" and his follow-up "The Lighthouse."

The pairing of Eggers with Shakespeare's tragedy of the Montagues and Capulets is not the most obvious match on paper, but his reputation for obsessive period detail makes the logic legible. The adaptation is expected to be period appropriate. Anyone hoping for a modern-day, Baz Luhrmann-style twist on the material should look elsewhere.

No other producers or details were immediately disclosed.

If "Romeo and Juliet" becomes Eggers' next project, it will presumably push his other planned films onto the back burner. Those include his sequel to "Labyrinth" and his take on "A Christmas Carol."

The Shakespeare play has been adapted countless times for the screen. Luhrmann's 1996 version, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, remains the most recognizable to modern studio audiences. It grossed $147 million worldwide at the box office.

Eggers' current release slate gives Focus reason for confidence. "Werwulf," his next film, stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, and Lily-Rose Depp in another intense, visually arresting period folk-horror project. Eggers wrote it with the Icelandic poet Sjón, reuniting the pair after their collaboration on "The Northman."

Focus hopes "Werwulf" matches the performance of "Nosferatu," which made $181 million worldwide when it opened over Christmas 2024.

With a period-appropriate Shakespeare tragedy now in the works, Eggers continues to build one of the most rigorously historical filmographies in contemporary studio cinema — and Focus continues to bet on it.