Iceland’s top film director and producer Baltasar Kormákur has revealed that he wants to produce a movie called Vikings after he concluded his current project, Everest.
He said he wants the film to be “character-driven”, but full of action. He explained that he will stay clear of traditional Viking stories and instead show them in a light they’ve never been portrayed in before.
Kormákur said that Vikings were brutal, but also educated people, noting that they were businessmen and salesmen who would raid other countries when business was not good. He pointed out that this was why their ships were so great.
The director revealed he began writing the script over 10 years ago, based on some of his country’s most renowned Viking tales, but put the project on the backburner because he didn’t have the budget required to make such a movie.
Although Vikings will be filmed in Iceland, Kormákur said it will shoot in English and have an international line-up. He revealed that the lead actor is Irish, while the other roles will be played by Scandinavian and European actors.
He estimates that it will need a budget of between $60m-$100m, and says it will be financed by a US partner to be named at a later date.