Jeremy Saulnier Describes Treacherous Below-Freezing Conditions Filming ‘Hold The Dark’

Filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier’s previous works have been relatively small in scale. His last film, “Green Room,” almost entirely took place inside of a bar, in fact. However, for his upcoming project “Hold the Dark,” not only is the director actually filming outdoors, but he’s also upping his scale quite a bit.

In a new interview with EW, Saulnier talks about the treacherous conditions that the cast and crew experienced while filming “Hold the Dark.” And long story short, it sounds miserable. The filmmaker said that the lowest temperature he can recall is -30 Celsius (or approximately -22 degrees Fahrenheit). Yeah, that’s cold. But it was all for a reason.

“I wanted real snow, I didn’t want to do too much CG, anything artificial, and we were blessed with three of the snowiest weeks of the year while we were shooting, and so most of our scenes were able to take place in actual snow,” said the director.

So, why must the film take place in the snow? Well, “Hold the Dark” tells the story of a naturalist, played by Jeffrey Wright of “Westworld” fame, as he tracks down a wolf who has taken a little boy from a remote village in Alaska. We also meet the boy’s father played by Alexander Skarsgård, a soldier that has been serving overseas during the Iraq War. Because of these conditions and characters, Saulnier was required to utilize some skills he hasn’t had to on previous films.

“It was great, we had just enough to get it done, but we were punching way above our weight class as far as the scope and scale of this film. I also was able to experiment with many new things, the challenges of many firsts. Not only did it have the most intense dialogue, and also the highest body count, it had a first war scene, it had an aerial sequence, and by far the most animals I’ve worked with,” he explains.

How will all that hard work pay off? Well, if test screenings are any idea, then audiences are in for a treat. During screenings for “Hold the Dark,” Saulnier says, “There [were] audible gasps in the theater.”

“Hold the Dark” premieres at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival before hitting Netflix on September 28.

Also, check out new pictures and poster for the film below: