12/09/2012 - Danish director Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis and producer Regner Grasten are preparing the follow-up to local blockbuster This Life

While several horses with CGI assistance will portray the lead character in Tarok – Dannebrog on Four Legs, Danish director Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis (photo) and producer Regner Grasten have assembled the main cast for their next feature, which will shoot next spring for an October 31 premiere.

In his first major role since the 2007 TV series The Killing (Forbrydelsen), Bjarne Henriksen will play Laursen, with Kirsten Lehfeldt as his wife and Henrik Vestergaard (This Life) as their jockey son, married to Lene Marie Christensen.

Tarok is the biopic of Denmark's most famous racehorse, which won 111 races out of 156 between 1975-1980. He had his own fan club complete with merchandising, and he was named Honorary Citizen at the Municipality of Sunsømøre in Jutland.

When he died on January 30, 1977, Danish television news opened with the story: 'Dannebrog on four legs is dead.' In 2010, he came first in a poll designating the greatest sporting events of all time, organised by Danish public broadcaster DRTV.

"It is another fantastic story, but it is also about ordinary people," Bjarup Riis explained. "We follow Karl Laursen and his family fighting to survive in the difficult times after the war; but he has a dream and this horse he believes in, and in the end they come out winners. I think everybody can identify with this film."