Fall is in the air, and the holidays will be here before we know it… which means a new Robert Eggers movie can’t be far from hitting theaters. The auteur behind “The Witch,” “The Lighthouse,” “The Northman,” and “Nosferatu” is bringing his Gothic sensibilities to another great literary monster this December with “Werwulf.”

The lycanthropy saga, set in an English village in the 13th century, stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a man who undergoes terrifying transformations into a werewolf each full moon. Plot details remain scarce, but Eggers fans can expect stunning production design, period-appropriate language, and performances from his trusted ensemble of actors, including Willem Dafoe and Lily Rose-Depp.

Focus Features previously screened footage of “Werwulf” at CinemaCon before releasing the film’s first trailer. Now the studio — which has already set plans to reteam with Eggers on his upcoming adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” — has shared a second trailer that offers a closer look at the film.

During a conversation on the Universal lot moderated by Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski, Eggers teased that the film is the darkest of his career — no small feat!

“You’re always trying to push yourself and challenge yourself and bite off more you can choose so you can get better,” Eggers said. “And after ‘Nosferatu,’ I kind of said, ‘Let me try to write the scariest thing I can write.’ I don’t know that I did that, but I definitely wrote the darkest thing. It was clear to me that it was going to be a werewolf movie because the historical werewolves that I had read about starting in high school, they were doing things that were so taboo and hard for anyone to wrap their mind around because it was so extreme that the culture that they existed in said, ‘You can’t be a human, you must be a werewolf.’ So it was going to be very dark and very primal subject matter.”

And if that’s not enough to whet your appetite for “Werwulf,” Focus is also rolling out an alternate reality game tied to the film. (Because really, what pairs better than Robert Eggers films and 21st-century distractions like online games?) The game will go live on the day of the full moon for each of the next three months, beginning with today’s Harvest Moon. Each full moon will launch a 24-hour online scavenger hunt in which fans have to search for and decipher a hidden code on the film’s digital platforms and enter it into the game before time runs out. Fans can sign up for the game at the appropriately titled DevourethAllMankynde.com.

“Werwulf” is written by Robert Eggers and frequent collaborator Sjón, with Chris Columbus, Eleanor Columbus, Bernard Bellew, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, and Garrett Bird serving as producers. While key plot details are under wraps, an official synopsis reads: “Focus Features presents ‘Werwulf,’ a harrowing tale of devotion, damnation, and the devil within.”

A Focus Features release, “Werwulf” is in theaters on Friday, December 25. Check out the film’s second trailer below.

Additional reporting by Marcus Jones.

Avengers: Endgame looks to make a heroic return to the box office during a crowded frame that sees Resident Evil still carrying bite in its second week.

Marvel Studios‘ 2019 blockbuster heads back to 3,060 North American screens with Avengers Endgame: Encore, which grossed around $11.2 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, and is expected to open at the top of the domestic chart with $26 million. Disney’s rerelease includes an exclusive look at footage from Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday, set to hit theaters Dec. 18.

During its initial run, Joe and Anthony Russo’s Endgame launched in April 2019 to a record-setting opening weekend of $1.2 billion globally. It went on to claim No. 2 on the all-time worldwide chart with a total run of $2.7 billion.

Sony’s Resident Evil still has teeth at second place with $6.9 million on Friday as it looks to collect $23.5 million domestically in its sophomore frame. Zach Cregger’s reboot of the video game property is set to decline around 60 percent to bring its North American sum to $103.6 million.

Robert Pattinson stars as journalist Chris Hansen in A24’s Primetime, which collected around $8.4 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, to eye roughly $20.5 million from 2,800 North American theaters. Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo and Phoebe Bridgers also star in director Lance Oppenheim’s feature that has a $15 million production budget and holds an 87 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, chief film critic David Rooney called it a “peak Sleaze TV rerun, for whoever wants it.”

Starring Brad Pitt as a Special Forces officer stranded with his combat dog in the wilderness, Paramount Pictures’ Heart of the Beast notched $7.4 million on Friday, including previews, and is expected to gross around $20 million domestically for the weekend from 3,400 North American locations. Carrying an $82 million production budget, director David Ayer’s movie stands at an 87 score from Rotten Tomatoes reviewers. THR critic Frank Scheck wrote that it “packs a surprising emotional punch.”

Rounding out the top five is DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island, with the Universal Pictures release expected to scoop up around $11.5 million domestically for the weekend after bringing in $4.3 million on Friday, including Thursday previews and other advance screenings. With a budget of $80 million, the film focuses on two friends magically transported to an island rooted in Philippine mythology. Featuring the voices of H.E.R., Liza Soberano and Dave Franco, Forgotten Island holds a 94 percent critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Scheck writing for THR that it is “an exciting original.”

More to come.

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