Focus Features has revealed the first four images for their upcoming historical thriller The Northman, starring Alexander Skarsgård as the Viking prince Amleth. The film, set in Iceland at the turn of the 10th century, is from the critically acclaimed director Robert Eggers. In addition to the images, a poster and trailer were also released for the film, giving audiences their first taste of the action-filled epic that follows a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father’s murder.
The Northman was first announced in 2019 when The Lighthouse director lined up Alexander Skarsgård and Nicole Kidman to star in the feature, alongside The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy and The Lighthouse star Willem Dafoe. Alexander Skarsgård's younger brother, Bill Skarsgård, was originally slated to appear in the film, but he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts in late 2020. He was replaced by Swedish actor Gustav Lindh.
In the newly released images, we see Skarsgård sporting two extremely different looks. In one image he is brandishing weapons, shirtless, and covered in blood, while in the other image he is well-groomed and seated on a horse beside Taylor-Joy who has been cast as Olga. In the other images, we get our first glimpse of Kidman as Queen Gudrun and Ethan Hawke as King Horvendill. Not featured in this collection of images, most notably, is Dafoe who has been cast Heimir the Fool, who he described to Indie Wire as “a court figure, but that’s my day job. I have a surprising night job that’s a little more nefarious.”
The Northman also features performances by Björk as Seeress, whose daughter Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney is also part of the ensemble, along with Claes Bang as Fjölnir, Murray McArthur as Hakon, Ian Gerard Whyte as Thórvaldr, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Thorfinnr, and Kate Dickie as Halldora the Pict.
Eggers is reunited with Jarin Blaschke as cinemtographer on the film. They previously worked together on both The Witch and The Lighthouse. The latter was nominated for Best Cinematography at the Academy Awards in 2019. The Northman was written by Robert Eggers and Icelandic novelist Sjón. Lars Knudsen, Mark Huffman, and New Regency were also announced as producers on the project.
The Northman is set to premiere in theaters on April 22, 2022. While you wait for this epic historical thriller to charge into your life, check out the new images and poster below:
