The Northman and Nosferatu filmmaker Robert Eggers is finally developing a Labyrinth sequel! For real, this time!
Robert Eggers reminds me of the babe. What babe? The babe with the power to finally, at long last, bring a sequel to Jim Henson‘s Labyrinth into the world! A day after announcing his Werwulf film project for Focus Features and Nosferatu coming to digital platforms, Robert Eggers confirms he’s writing and directing a Labyrinth sequel for TriStar Pictures. I am freaking the f**k out, friends. Labyrinth is one of my favorite films of all time, and the thought of Eggers taking the reins for a sequel to Jim Henson’s 1986 classic fantasy film is giving me life!
Plot details for Eggers’s Labyrinth sequel remain more mysterious than Jareth’s magnificent package, though sources say the film is a sequel, not a remake, to Henson’s timeless, puppet-populated masterpiece. Eggers will write the script with Sjón, his writing partner for 2022’s The Northman. The duo is also tackling Eggers’s newly-announced Werwulf film. To sweeten the pot, Chris and Eleanor Columbus will produce alongside Lisa Henson, with Brian Henson as the executive producer.
This project started moving forward in 2016 when Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel writer Nicole Perlman signed on to write the screenplay. Fede Álvarez (Alien: Romulus) was hired to direct the film in 2017 and wrote his script draft with Jay Basu. Álvarez completed the project by October 2018. However, the film didn’t go into production, and Álvarez dropped out in 2020. That same year, Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange) was hired to direct the movie. He wrote a version of the script with Maggie Levin, and Labyrinth star Jennifer Connelly confirmed that there had been conversations about her returning in the new movie. In late 2023, Derrickson said he was unsure if the project would move forward because it was “so imaginative and surreal” that it might not be commercially viable. He was off the project by early 2024.
In Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, an angsty teen (Jennifer Connelly) navigates a complex and forever-changing maze after the Goblin King (David Bowie) takes her infant brother. The enigmatic film features some of Henson’s most brilliant creatures and set designs, sitting proudly alongside films like The Dark Crystal, Legend, Mirrormask, and The Witches.
What do you think about Robert Eggers taking on the task of developing a Labyrinth sequel? Let us know in the comments section below.
