Denmark’s Zentropa and Nordisk Film have joined forces on the biggest Viking project ever - the adaptation of the 1945 classic Röde orm (The Long Ships) by Swedish novelist Frans Gunnar Bengtsson. The tentative budget for the Nordic blockbuster to be shot in a Scandinavian language is around €11.7 million (SEK100 million).

Translated into 24 languages, The Long Ships tells the adventurous tale of one of the most heroic figures of the 10th century ‘Red Orm’ as he embarks on a journey that ends up changing the course of history. Zentropa’s CEO Peter Aalbæk Jensen and producer Sisse Graum Jørgensen (In a Better World) are attached as producers and Lone Korslund, Nordisk Film’s Head of Nordic Acquisitions and Co-productions is Executive Producer. 

“This will be a real Nordic epic adventure Viking film for Scandinavian and international audiences,” said Korslund who has been involved in most Nordic blockbusters of the past five years, from the Millennium trilogy to Headhunters and Kon-Tiki. A director and scriptwriter are under negotiations.

A Hollywood adaptation of Frans G Bengtsson’s classic novel was brought to the screens in 1964 by Jack Cardiff with Richard Widmark as the Viking hero Red Orm and Sidney Poitier as the Islamic ruler Aly Manush.