Nicolas Winding Refn and Mads Mikkelsen are set to reunite once again, with the helmer looking to cast him as the lead in his previously-announced untitled heist film produced by Gore Verbinski.
“My whole mission has been: ‘How will I bring Mads Mikkelsen to Hollywood?’” Winding Refn told the NY Times, unveiling plans for the re-teaming. “And if no one else will give him the lead in a Hollywood movie, I will.”
No details are currently known of the heist project other than the fact it will be produced by ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ helmer Verbinski. Mikkelsen’s likely casting is the first confirmation that the project is still on Refn’s radar, though it’s probably a lower priority than the Ryan Gosling-led neo-noir “Drive” and the Bangkok-set modern Western “Only God Forgives,” which is slated to shoot this summer.
Refn also provided a little insight into the collaborative processes between him and Mikkelsen. “We have a verbal agreement: If I ask him, he has to play the lead.” Refn explained. Then, as the project takes shape, they stop talking and make the film before going their separate ways without communicating until one day “[Refn will] call him and say, ‘Let’s make another movie,’ and the process starts all over again.”
It’s interesting how the relationship between two seems to be purely professional but whatever they’re doing is definitely working — this heist film is an exciting prospect to say the least. Meanwhile, their atmospheric Viking epic “Valhalla Rising,” which we saw at TIFF and can’t recommend enough, will see a limited release through IFC Films on July 23rd.
