Sitting through five hours of Nymphomaniac already felt like a lot to endure, but filmmaker Lars Von Trier is now planning to send his English-language audience through an entire TV series. Von Trier previously worked on the 1990s Danish series The Kingdom, and now according to Deadline, he's returning to long-form storytelling. At the Venice Film Festival for the out of competition screenings of the Director’s Cut of Nymphomaniac Volume I and II, producer Louise Vesth announced on behalf of Von Trier (who has kept to his 2011 promise of refraining from all public statements and interviews) that his next project will be an English-language TV series.
Hit the jump for more.
Deadline reports that Vesth told the press Von Trier "has a really really good idea which I cannot tell more about right now. He wants a huge cast and from what I heard I’m sure that it will be something that you have never seen before and you will definitely never see it again."
TrustNordisk released more details such as the series being titled "The House That Jack Built" with Von Trier planning to work on the script this fall for a 2016 shoot. That's a bit of a wait, but executive producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen added the series will be "without precedent" and "you better hold your breath."
For some filmmakers, phrases like that are just hype. With Von Trier, he can easily live up to those words. That doesn't mean the series will be any good, but he knows how to leave a lasting impression on an audience.
The question then becomes which network would be willing to have him? There are certainly options, but they'll likely be taking a gamble on a show that will almost undoubtedly be controversial. However, that's a distant concern since it won't be ready to air for at least couple years. Maybe by then we'll have a new TV channel that has no problem airing material like a woman cutting off her clitoris or devoting a weekly half-hour program to Charlotte Gainsbourg's vagina.