Fantastic Beasts star Mads Mikkelsen is looking broody in the first-look image from The Bastard, Mikkelsen’s upcoming Danish-language feature which re-teams him with his A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel.
The image, released on Thursday by The Bastard producer Zentropa, shows Mikkelsen as Captain Ludvig Kahlen, a 17th-century soldier who sets out on an impossible task: to clear and cultivate the wild Jutland heath for the Danish crown. The first shot from the film shows Mikkelsen surrounded by swirling smoke as workers behind him set fire to the heath. Amanda Collin (Raised by Wolves) co-stars.
Photo-by-Henrik-Ohsten-Zentropa
Zentropa on Thursday also unveiled the remaining cast, including Simon Bennebjerg (Borgen), who plays Kalen’s nemesis, the local landowner Frederik de Schinkel, and Norwegian actress Kristine Kujath Thorp (Ninjababy) as de Schinkel’s cousin Edel Helene. Also starring are Riders of Justice actors Gustav Lind and Jakob Lohmann, Morten Hee Andersen (Ride Upon the Storm), Magnus Krepper (Queen of Hearts) and Felix Kramer (Dark).
Zentropa launched the $8 million film in Cannes this year under the working title King’s Land. Magnolia Pictures pre-bought U.S. rights to the film, with Zentropa’s sales division TrustNordisk closing multiple deals including with Plaion Pictures for Gemrany, The Jokers Films for France, September Films for Benelux and Vertigo Media for Hungary.
The Bastard is eyeing a local release in the fall of 2023.