Despite his stateside appeal, Mads Mikkelsen has never stopped making films in his native Denmark. And now, he’s signed up for another one, a reunion with director Nikolaj Arcel, who he last worked with on 2012’s “A Royal Affair.”
“King’s Land,” the working title for the period piece, will star Mikkelsen as the 18th-century Danish soldier Ludvig Kahlen. The film follows Kahlen as he attempts to settle a dangerous patch of land called Jutland Heath that King Frederick V announced, in 1755, was free for anyone to lay claim to in a bid to bring the crown more taxes.
Arcel adapts the 2020 Danish bestseller “The Captain And Ann Barbara” by Ida Jessen for the big screen with “Riders Of Justice” director and frequent Mikkelsen collaborator Anders Thomas. Production on the film begins in Denmark, Germany, and the Czech Republic this September.
Like “King’s Land,” “A Royal Affair” was also a historical drama centered around the Danish royal family. Mikkelsen starred opposite Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Følsgaard in that film and received Best Foreign Film nominations at the Golden Globes and Oscars that year.
In a press release, Mikkelsen expressed excitement about teaming up with Arcel again. “Nikolaj Arcel and I had a magnificent collaboration during ‘A Royal Affair’ and I am beyond excited to be working with him once again,” said Mikkelsen. “He has an awe-inspiring vision for the film and he and Anders Thomas have penned an amazing script. Its brutality and tenderness deeply moved me when I first read it. It’s an important and fascinating chapter in Danish history about to be adapted for the screen and carrying topics still relevant to this very day.”
At least “King’s Land” isn’t another “Fantastic Beasts” movie for Mikkelsen; that’s something all moviegoers can be thankful for. Catch Mikkelsen onscreen next in “Indiana Jones 5,” out next year.