Robert Eggers’ The Witch debuted in theaters recently and has had a huge response from viewers and critics alike. Now, Eggers has moved on to his next project, another period piece.
Eggers is set to both write and direct an upcoming miniseries about Grigori “The Mad Monk” Rasputin. Rasputin, born in 1869, is the infamous Russian mystic that became a trusted adviser to the Romanovs, the Russian Imperial family. Rasputin became indispensable to the family in all matters of both home and state. In Eggers’ six to eight episode mini series we will witness the rise of Rasputin to power and his murder in St. Petersburg.
His influence grew so strong that many attempted to end his life. In 1916 they succeeded. Rasputin survived being stabbed, shot, strangled, shot again, all in the same night, before finally being drowned in the Neva River. The Romanovs were murdered only two years later. They were executed in Yekaterinburg, Russia by the Bolsheviks in 1918, ending the three-century-old Romonov dynasty. It has been said that one of the Romanovs’ young daughters, Anastasia, was able to escape.
