“The Snowman” hasn’t had an easy ride to the big screen. The adaptation of Jo Nesbo‘s best-seller may have assembled a helluva cast including Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chloe Sevigny, and more, and snared director Tomas Alfredson (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “Let The Right One In“), but the production wasn’t easy, and early reviews weren’t kind. The final film has two credited editors, and while the thriller underwent reshoots earlier this year, it seems that even then, they just couldn’t get everything in the can.
According to Alfredson, 10-15% of the script remained unfilmed, which seems kind important when you’re trying to tell a murder mystery. “Our shoot time in Norway was way too short, we didn’t get the whole story with us and when we started cutting we discovered that a lot was missing,” the director told NRK. “It’s like when you’re making a big jigsaw puzzle and a few pieces are missing so you don’t see the whole picture.”
The director partially blames the lack of time on the producers, who got the funding to make the film, and were immediately off to the races. “It happened very abruptly, suddenly we got notice that we had the money and could start the shoot in London,” Aflredson explained.
You have to feel a bit for the filmmaker. Half the battle of making a movie is getting the greenlight, but in this case, it seems the go ahead was also the curse, as there wasn’t enough time to prepare. The result is a movie that is getting largely panned, with some calling it among the year’s worst efforts.
“The Snowman” opens on Friday. [via Yahoo]