News Doctor Caligari’s Cabinet of Wonders Michael Shannon Will Star in Doctor Caligari’s Cabinet of Wonders The remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari comes from the Dowdle brothers By Molly Templeton | Published on February 5, 2026 Screenshot: MGM Studios Comment 0 Share New Share Screenshot: MGM Studios Michael Shannon’s fascinating career arc—from indies to playing General Zod himself—continues. The actor is now set to star in a remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari that comes from the creators of the series Waco (in which Shannon starred). John Erick Dowdle is set to write and direct Doctor Caligari’s Cabinet of Wonders; his brother Drew Dowdle will produce the film. The brothers have previously collaborated (usually with John Erick directing and both writing) on No Escape; As Above, So Below; and Quarantine. John Erick Dowdle also directed Devil, the film (co-written by M. Night Shyamalan) in which someone in a crowded elevator is the Devil. According to Variety, Shannon plays “the titular villain, Doctor Caligari, a traveling mesmerist who journeys from town to town with a sleepwalker under his control, leaving a trail of grisly murders in their wake. When a young woman’s boyfriend disappears mysteriously, she believes that the enigmatic Caligari is somehow responsible. The problem is — nobody believes her.” John Erick Dowdle said, “The idea of seeing him play the horrifying Doctor Caligari became an obsession for us. The trust and creative shorthand we’ve built together will allow us to push deeper and bolder as we reimagine this iconic German Expressionist classic for a modern audience. I couldn’t be more excited to bring this nightmare to life with him.” The original Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (pictured above), released in 1920, was a silent film directed by Robert Wiene. C.A. Lejeune’s 1923 review in The Guardian is fascinating: But that Robert Wiene, a stage actor of the Sturm group, whose avowed interest was the spreading of the gospel of expressionism through every medium, whether plastic or pictorial, and who cared for the kinema only in so far as it could further his ends more completely than the speaking stage – that this outsider, with no knowledge of studio customs, no reverence for studio traditions, should have turned out The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari seems a thing almost too strange for belief. Lejeune goes on to call the original “an almost flawless picture.” The Dowdles clearly have their work cut out for them.[end-mark] The post Michael Shannon Will Star in <i>Doctor Caligari’s Cabinet of Wonders</i> appeared first on Reactor.