this was prana film's only movie because the movie was a financial failure as a limited release. the ufa refused to take the film in the program of their large movie theaters, and so nosferatu was only shown in a few small theaters. this was also because bram stoker had an estate, acting for his widow, florence stoker, sueing for copyright infringement and winning. the court ordered all existing prints of "nosferatu" burned, but one purported copy of the film had already been distributed around the world. these prints were duplicated over the years.