If there was ever any doubt over Michael Fassbender’s A-list status, expect that to change any day now. “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” was his biggest hit to date (and next year’s sequel “Apocalypse” could be even bigger), he won rave reviews at Sundance for “Slow West” and at Cannes for “Macbeth,” Telluride made him the Best Actor Oscar front-runner for “Steve Jobs,” and he’s got four films hitting in 2016, including blockbuster “Assassin’s Creed,” and Derek Cianfrance’s “The Light Between Oceans.”
Fassbender’s likely to have “Prometheus 2” coming up in the near future too, but he’s looking to squeeze in something else, and has found a new project, according to the Hollywood Reporter, in the shape of “The Snowman.” Adapted from a novel by best-selling Norwegian crime-writer Jo Nesbø (who penned international hit “Headhunters”), the film sees detective Harry Hole chasing a serial killer, Norway’s first, who kills married mothers and leaves their belongings on snowmen near the scene.
Optioned by Working Title and Universal at the height of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”-inspired Scandi-noir mania four years ago, the film was originally set to be directed by Martin Scorsese, but more recently Tomas Alfredson, the Swedish helmer of the brilliant “Let The Right One In” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” has taken over the director’s chair, though Scorsese will exec-produce, while Søren Sveistrup, creator of the original “The Killing” series, penned the script.
Fassbender would play Hole, and the hope has been that there’d be franchise potential in the series. Without having read the book, it does sound a touch generic, but Nesbø’s fans are fervent, and the wealth of talent attached is enormous (we’re particularly glad to see Alfredson with a new project, four years after “Tinker Tailor,” one of the best movies of the decade). And of course, we’ll turn up for anything Fassbender’s doing. There’s no indication of when this’ll go before cameras yet, but we imagine it’s aiming to hit theaters sometime in 2017.