When the ambitious and much-anticipated Viking epic “The Northman” came out earlier this year, director Robert Eggers seemed poised to be the talk of cinema’s discourse. While there were terrific reviews (including ours) in various interviews, Eggers seemed disappointed, expressing concern about his final cut of the film and the shelving of several of his ideas for future projects. As the costly movie underperformed at the box office, the acclaimed director seems to be at a crossroads.
In a recent interview with The Daily Beast, when Eggers was asked about the film’s underwhelming showing at the box office, he answered jokingly. “I think it met the expectations of a bad marketplace.” he quipped. “Am I disappointed that, three to four weeks in, we’re on VOD because that’s the way things are done in the post-COVID world? Yeah. But it’s doing great on VOD, so there you go.”
As the interview went on, Eggers was asked how he could avoid something like “The Northman” from happening again. “I need to restrategize in terms of what I’m pitching to a studio,” he said. “Like, how do I be me and survive in this environment? Because while they wouldn’t have me anyway, I wouldn’t want to direct a Marvel movie, and I’m also not going to try to get the rights to ‘Spawn’ or something either.”
The filmmaker continued. “I’m going to keep doing what I’m going to do,” he said, undeterred. “But I know that everybody’s nervous right now, you know? Everybody’s nervous. And it’s justifiable.” These reflective remarks stem from months of interviews where Eggers explained his frustrations with the post-production conflicts with the studio over the film’s final cut, which he had no control over.
But he is still proud of the film he made. “That said, me and my collaborators stuck together, and we just said we were simply not going to leave with something we weren’t proud of,” he said. “So, we did. But certainly, there were times when that was difficult in post-production.”
Will there be stories of big battles with the studio and Eggers in the future, creatives often more comfortable discussing the details? It’s very possible, but for now, the intimation of creative friction rubbing against commercial viability demands is likely all we’re going to get.