Alexander Skarsgård, the young offspring of the well-respected acting talent Stellan Skarsgård, hasn’t quite carved his niche out for himself just yet in the film world. Outside of women everywhere with HBO subscriptions who DVR every episode of horror soap “True Blood” to watch his ripped physique, his excellent spots in Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia,” the HBO mini-series “Generation Kill,” and even his performance in the unnecessary Rod Lurie remake of Sam Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs” have seemed to go unnoticed despite being praiseworthy. That should all change as he’s been lining up an impressive slate of films, including his first big blockbuster in the sci-fi board game remake “Battleship,” an epic Viking picture he’s producing and starring in, and a plum role opposite current indie darling Brit Marling in “Sound of My Voice” helmer Zal Batmanglij’s “The East.” Now he has another potentially mainstream-ready project to add to his busy slate.
Variety has word that Skarsgård is hopping aboard the mysterious-sounding “Hidden,” which fortunately isn’t the English translation remake of Michael Haneke’s “Cache,” but rather a tale that centers on a family that find themselves hidden within a secluded shelter following some sort of rampant outbreak. “Hidden” hails from Warner Bros., who hired directors Ross Duffer and Matt Duffer based on their Black List-approved spec script for the film, with Warners keeping the lid tight on any other details concerning Skarsgård’s character or basically anything else about the film. The brothers Duffer caught the attention of many with their short “Eater” in 2007, which follows a police station in the dead of night that’s being stalked “Assault on Precinct 13”-style by a cannibal. Yeah, these boys are steeped in the genre, and you can watch that below.
As for Skarsgård, he recently wrapped “What Maisie Knew” with Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan, along with “Disconnect” with “Murderball” director Henry Alex Rubin at the helm, so we’ll definitely be feeling his presence in cinemas soon. He’s a talented actor, and going by his work in “Melancholia” alone, we’d like to see how he holds his own in a survival horror film like this.
No word yet on a release date for this one, but if Skarsgård’s schedule is clearing up, it could be pretty soon.
Eater from The Duffer Brothers on Vimeo.