‘The Northman’: Alexander Skarsgård On Being With A Project At Its Inception & Entering The Mind Of A Viking [Interview]

Having just released his Viking epic “The Northman,” this past weekend (read our review) director Robert Eggers is now giving some brief insight into where his future projects could be going while reiterating his desire to avoid another big studio project as his next movie. During a new interview with GQ Magazine, Eggers confirmed that he’s indeed working on a project in the Elizabethan era but was scarce on details and whether there will be an added genre element going on.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterHollywood is often skewered for no longer making large-scale original epics like “The Northman,” director Robert Eggers’ bloody Viking tale about a warrior’s quest to avenge his father’s death.Yet Focus Features, Universal’s indie label, took a gamble, not only backing “The Northman” but releasing the film in theaters nationwide. Driven by positive reviews, the movie generated $12 million from 3,865 North American theaters over the weekend, enough to secure the No. 4 spot on domestic box office charts.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic“The Northman,” a violent epic of Viking revenge, is not a good movie. It’s like “Gladiator” without the Colosseum and with a stubbornly uninteresting hulk avenger hero. (It also drags on 45 minutes longer than it should have.) A lot of critics have overpraised the movie because they feel invested in the career of Robert Eggers, the maverick indie director who made the spectral Puritan horror film “The Witch” (2015) and the even more impressive two-men-in-a-lighthouse gaga period fever dream “The Lighthouse” (2019).

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. In Robert Eggers’ new epic “The Northman,” out this weekend, Alexander Skarsgård seeks revenge on a man who has killed both his parents and usurped the throne from his royal father.

The latest big-screen creation of DreamWorks Animation topped opening night totals for new flicks from star actors Alexander Skarsgard and Nicolas Cage.“The Bad Guys” — an animated romp about five over-the-hill anthropomorphic criminals — raked in $8 million in ticket sales on April 22, its first day in theaters.Skarsgard’s Viking revenge tale “The Northman,” meanwhile, came in at number two at the box office, earning $5 million.Last week’s box office winner — “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” — dropped to number three.

Alexander Skarsgard is opening up about his brand new movie, The Northman, during a panel conversation held at 92Y on Thursday (April 21) in New York City.

AlexanderSkarsgård pushed himself to the limit to transform his body for his new film The Northman.In an interview with Variety, the 45-year-old actor's trainerMagnus Lygdback described the grueling fitness and diet regimen that the True Blood star underwent to play the role of the Viking Prince Amleth inRobert Eggers' action/adventure movie.'This character, his spiritual animals were a bear and wolf. So that is exactly what we were trying to embody in terms of Alex's build and movements,' Lygdback told the media outlet.

EXCLUSIVE: ICM has just signed The Northman actor Gustav Lindh.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“The Northman,” a blood-drenched viking epic from director Robert Eggers, pillaged $1.35 million in Thursday previews, while “The Bad Guys,” a kid-friendly spin on the heist genre, earned $1.15.Those aren’t the only new wide releases in town; they will also have to fend off “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” a very meta exercise in which Nicolas Cage stars as himself. It picked up $835,000 in Thursday previews.Universal’s indie label Focus released “The Northman,” which is projected to earn $10 million to $15 million in its first three days of release.

Zack Sharf Of all the images in Robert Eggers’ Viking epic “The Northman,” there’s no sight more jaw-dropping than that of Alexander Skarsgård’s bulging traps. The actor’s shoulders look like two protruding volcanoes ready to erupt. Skarsgård’s muscles are a testament to his work with Magnus Lygdback, the celebrity trainer who helped the actor pack on 20 pounds of muscle and transform into the hulking Viking warrior prince Amleth.Lygdback, who first worked with Skarsgård on the 2016 adventure film “The Legend of Tarzan,” is both an exercise trainer and a movement coach.

Universal had the most to boast last night at the box office, hitting the 18-34 arthouse demo with Robert Eggers’ Focus Features Viking epic, The Northman, which drew $1.35M last night in previews, and families with Dreamworks Animation’s The Bad Guys, which made $1.15M. 

Alexander Skarsgard might be the star of The Northman, but he didn’t receive quite as many gifts as the rest of the cast.

The Northman (★★★☆☆) unfolds like the sort of epic that Viking warriors might have passed down for generations, sharing over horns of ale around a roaring fire: the haunting Legend of Prince Amleth.The exiled prince’s trials and adventures appear to have been shot by firelight, too. Writer-director Robert Eggers and his Oscar-nominated Lighthouse cinematographer Jarin Blaschke opt for enveloping the action in shadows and mist, the natural darkness of a northern land where winter nights are long, and the days short.Even the film’s climactic showdown, a naked sword fight by a lake of lava and fire, is depicted as a brutal clash between silhouettes backlit by flames.Rivals dueling on an erupting volcano forms a gorgeous tableau, but audiences might, for various reasons, wish they could actually see more of the combatants swinging their swords — especially the ferocious Amleth, embodied heartily by Alexander Skarsgård.The erstwhile Tarzan delivers a gruelingly physical performance, fighting, running, lifting, swimming, hauling, speaking primarily and most clearly through Amleth’s vivid body language.

A.D. Amorosi Without a doubt, Robert Eggers’ “The Northman” traffics in his now-usual brand of haunted atmospherics and wonky mysticism, a signature whose intensity is upped by the savage bloodlust of its characters and the vastitudes of his first big-budget epic with a price tag reportedly hovering between $70 million and $90 million.The only thing more intensely stressed than the dilemma of a Viking prince in the year 895 (avenging the death of his father, the king, at the hands of his jealous uncle who stole the prince’s mother as the spoils of war — or did she go willingly?) played to brutal, muscular perfection by Alexander Skarsgård, is the all-consuming dedication of its tactile production design, its brooding, cinematographic ambiance and the craftsmanship of its furry, hierarchical costuming.

At 6'4", there's no doubt that Alexander Skarsgard will often find himself to be the tallest person in the room on any given day.But during a Thursday set visit to Live with Kelly and Ryan - the 45-year-old actor made sure to try and fit in with the show's hosts, most notably Kelly Ripa.The show's official Instagram posted a snap of the actor and the diminutive daytime diva with the caption: 'Trying to blend in with the short king.' In the studio: Alexander Skarsgard was the guest on Thursday's episode of Live With Kelly And Ryan, and the hosts shared a photo of the actor to their show's official Instagram accountSwedish hunk Alexander could be seen crouching down, while posing with 5'3" star Kelly, 51.Meanwhile Kelly's co-host Ryan Seacrest, 47, - who is 5' 7" - stood to the side. Skarsgard kept it very casual in a black T-shirt, blue jeans and Converse sneakers during his time on set.Ripa looked lovely in a brown polka-dotted dress and a set of stark white high-heeled shoes.Seacrest opted for a black t-shirt, matching slim-fitting pants and a light brown button-up jacket.The actor was also seen in a video that was shared to the show's Instagram Story, in which he warmly greeted the program's hosts.

After “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse,” director Robert Eggers brings his passion for meticulous historical recreation and his interest in the (often tortured) psyches of past generations to the violent and epic world of Vikings in “The Northman” (read our review). Unlike actor Alexander Skarsgård, who plays the film’s eponymous hero (read our interview with the actor here), Eggers was never particularly inspired by these ruthless people before the idea for the movie was suggested to him — which only makes his achievement on “The Northman” more impressive.

Alexander Skarsgård is gearing up for the wide release of his latest project, the historical epic drama The Northman, opposite Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, and Nicole Kidman.MORE: Alexander Skarsgard unveils new bold look! See picturesFor Alexander and Nicole, the film serves as a happy reunion, having worked together previously on the HBO drama Big Little Lies.VIDEO: Nicole Kidman wows with incredible transformation for new roleWhile the two play mother and son in the epic, they garnered acclaim for their performances as an abusive married couple in the TV series, having even won Golden Globes and Emmys for their portrayals.Speaking to Vanity Fair at the premiere event for The Northman, Alexander opened up about his relationship with the Oscar winning actress.MORE: Nicole Kidman and Alexander Skarsgard share kiss at Emmys"Nicole and I have another dark, twisted, dysfunctional relationship," he quipped about their roles in the movie."There really is no one I'd rather go into those dark territories than with Nicole. We did build a very strong bond from Big Little Lies," he explained.  The two played husband and wife in Big Little Lies"It demanded so much trust, and now she's a dear friend.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterNicolas Cage is back… not that he went anywhere.The actor’s latest movie “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” a meta comedy in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself, is one of several films opening nationwide over the weekend. It’ll compete against director Robert Eggers’ Viking epic “The Northman” and Universal and DreamWorks’ animated family film “The Bad Guys,” as well as last weekend’s champion “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”Unless ticket sales crash in week two, “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the third chapter in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series, should retain the domestic box office crown.

Is it truly a marketplace for branded tentpoles and uber low budget fare at the box office as the pandemic eases?

Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicole Kidman are each other’s biggest fans. The stars praised each during the Los Angeles premiere of their film The Northman.

Robert Eggers‘ viking epic “The Northman” in Northern Ireland may not have been the most pleasant experience for the cast and crew due to the brutal weather and dangerous landscape, but the stars of the film wouldn’t have it any other way.“I do not complain ever really,” Anya Taylor-Joy told Variety at the Los Angeles premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre on Monday night. “There was one day when the mud came up to about my knees and it had frozen,” Taylor-Joy said. “I essentially squeaked out a ‘Please can we roll?’ and Robert was like, ‘Oh, Anya is asking if we can roll, we should roll.’ But we did it, it’s in the movie and it looks great.”Taylor-Joy looks back at the shoot fondly despite the hardships.