Samuel Goldwyn Films is set to distribute Mads Mikkelson’s The Last Viking in the U.S.
The Last Viking is a dramedy that comes from Danish director Anders Thomas Jensen. Jensen reunites with Mads Mikkelson and Nikolaj Lie Kaas after their collaboration on Riders of Justice, which our Chris Bumbray loved, as he said in his review, “There’s loads of action and a body count in the dozens. But it’s also just as much a dark comedy and a sweet family melodrama. It’s an interesting mash-up of genres that is very evocative of other films made in Denmark, where Mads and his co-star Nikolaj Lie Kaas are super A-list.”
Now, The Last Viking will be hitting our shores courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The distributor previously had some success with Mikkelson’s Another Round, which won the Oscar for its director Thomas Vinterberg and for Best International Film. The Last Viking made its world premiere at Venice, then the North American premiere took place at TIFF. The president at Samuel Goldwyn Films, Peter Goldwyn, successfully closed the deal after negotiating with Susan Wendt, who is the managing director at TrustNordisk. TrustNordisk is handling world sales for the film. TrustNordisk has confirmed deals for The Last Viking with more than 60 territories, including Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan, nearly selling out worldwide.
Per THR, “The oddball plot of the film sees Kaas and Mikkelsen playing two very different brothers. Kaas is Anker, a bank robber whose loot is entrusted to traumatized younger brother Manfred (Mikkelsen). By the time Kaas is finally released from prison, Manfred — a former Viking obsessive — has been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. He now believes he’s John Lennon. To jog his memory as to where he stored the cash, Kaas decides to find a collection of similarly afflicted patients — ones that think they’re George, Ringo and Paul — and bring the Fab Four back together.”
It was reported back in 2021 that Shawn Levy was developing a remake of Riders of Justice with Lionsgate. “There are few films that balance the action, emotion, and dark humor that Anders did so successfully in Riders of Justice,” said Erin Westerman, Lionsgate’s president of production. “We’re confident that the movie will translate perfectly to English-language audiences as well.”
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