04/11/2011

Danish director Niels Arden Oplev (pictured), whose international career took off after he signed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Niels Arden Oplev
interview: Søren Stærmose
film profile] – part one of Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy – will next helm Dead Man Down, a thriller starring Irish actor Colin Farrell and Swedish Millennium lead Noomi Rapace.

Introduced at the current American Film Market in Los Angeles (November 2-9) by US financing, sales and distribution company IB Global, the Original Film feature will be produced by Neal H. Moritz and Ori Marmur, with J.H. Wyman (of the Fringe Fox TV series The Mexican) who has also written the script.

Farrell plays a mobster’s hitman who is seduced by a former beauty queen (Rapace), a crime victim seeking retribution. Their strong chemistry leads them on to a violent mission of revenge.

Since his Larsson installment, which collected numerous international awards, including a BAFTA in the UK, Oplev has been attached to several US projects, but has so far only realised Unforgettable starring Poppy Montgomery as part of a CBS crime/mystery television series produced by, among others, John Belushi.

Educated at the Danish National Film School, Arden was a director on the Emmy-winning television series, Unit One and The Eagle. His We Shall Overcome [+see also:
trailer
film profile] scooped a Crystal Bear at the Berlinale and was a top grosser; his Worlds Apart [+see also:
trailer
film profile] was equally successful at the box office.