Valhalla Rising starts in Scotland
by Annika Pham
The Viking adventure movie Valhalla Rising, in which Mads Mikkelsen plays a mute warrior for Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, started its 10-week shoot in Scotland this week.
Other cast and crew include Scottish actor Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot), Refn’s usual DoP Morten Søborg and music composer Mogwai.
Refn previously worked with Mikkelsen on the action series Pusher, movies that built his fame. Several years in development, Valhalla Rising is co-written by the filmmaker with Norwegian writer Roy Jacobsen.
The story is set in the 10th century and Vikings have been in Scotland for decades. An expedition sets out to return to Scandinavia, but gets lost in the fog. They eventually reach an unknown land and think it is Valhalla, the Viking equivalent of Heaven. But it turns out to be America.
The €4.5m English-language film is a Danish/UK co-production between Nimbus Film and Glasgow-based Karen Smyth (La Belle Allée). For Nimbus producer Johnny Anderson, Valhalla Rising will have a very modern feel: “Nicolas is shooting it in continuity. He will make it like a Pusher movie”.
The film is co-financed by the Danish Film Institute, Scanbox (who hold Scandinavian rights), DR, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the BBC, Scottish Screen and the Glasgow Film Office.
Wild Bunch is handling world sales and pre-sales have been concluded for France (Wild Side) and the UK (Vertigo).
The Danish premiere is set for April 2009.
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