Erik Poppe will direct Bad Moon Rising [working title], a feature written by fellow Norwegian and recent Nobel Prize-winner Jon Fosse, with a script written 26 years ago and minimally adjusted since.
The film is scheduled to go into production on the second week of September this year, in locations along the western coast of Norway including fjords. Casting is underway.
Poppe took meetings in Berlin over the weekend to secure further financing for the project. He is also waiting on the response from the Norwegian Film Institute regarding its contribution.
The story follows a couple from their first meeting, through their relationship including a son, to their separation and how they deal with it. It will have a contemporary setting, with Poppe describing it as a “timeless piece”.
Norwegian author and playwright Fosse wrote and first shared the Bad Moon Rising script with Poppe 26 years ago. “It’s Jon’s first and only film script, written in 1998,” Poppe told Screen. “It has been lying on the side of my desk since.” Barely any changes have been made to that 1998 version, says the director.
In the subsequent years Poppe has achieved success as a director of films including The King’s Choice and Utoya: July 22; while Fosse has become an internationally-known writer of novels including the Septology series and plays including I Am The Wind and A Summer Day.
He received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature, in addition to previous prizes including the Ordre national du Merite of France, the European Prize for Literature, and the use of the Grotten, an honorary residence in Oslo bestowed by the King of Norway for contributions to Norwegian arts and culture.
Unknown gem
Increased focus on Fosse’s work following the Nobel Prize makes this the right time to get this “unknown gem” of a script out into the world, Poppe believes. “The fact Jon has written this unknown script has been surprising a lot of people,” said the director. “It was like a sensation when we met people in Berlin.”
Poppe’s aim is to capture the spirit of Fosse’s work, which often deals with love, dreams and the difficulty of human communication. “I want to get the essence, the soul within Jon’s voice, to take care of it,” said Poppe.
Fosse’s involvement beyond writing the script is to be finalised before production. “He’s strongly supporting that we finally will make a movie based on this script,” said Poppe. “The next step is for me to go into the project and start to break it up, finding locations and actors.”
Poppe will also produce the film for his Norwegian company Paradox.
The director contrasted Fosse’s style with that of another Scandinavian storyteller, Ingmar Bergman. “When Bergman tells a story about a relationship breaking up, he focuses on the arguments,” said Poppe. “Jon does it totally differently. We are with these people, we are following them, and he skips the arguments. It makes the classic story of a breakup feel fresh.”
Poppe added: “The way we tell our stories today in film and television has become more and more formatted, more conservative, less and less innovative. Production costs more, we take fewer chances. We have less fun playing with the way we tell stories.
“This script has this nerve, this longing for a different way of presenting its story that I feel is really interesting.”
Poppe also revealed that post-production is almost finished on Quisling [Norwegian title: Quisling Siste Dager], his period drama about infamous Norwegian prime minister and Nazi collaborator Vidkun Quisling. The film will complete its final sound mix by March, and will be ready in time for a potential Cannes launch, Poppe confirmed.
No comments yet