Niels Arden Oplev to return to Denmark for next feature

Currently finishing the shoot for his first US thriller, Dead Man Down, in New York and Philadelphia, Danish director Niels Arden Oplev – who has lived in America for the last three years - will return to Denmark and the mid-1970s for his next feature, based on Danish actor-author Morten Kirkskov’s debut novel, Race Walking (Kapgang).

Inspired by Arden Oplev after his first meeting with Kirkshov, and scripted by Bo hr. Hansen, Race Walking follows 13-year-old Martin, who is in puberty and alternatively dreams of Kristine the girl and Kim the boy, when he suddenly loses his mother.

Arden Oplev, who has Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace and Dominic Cooper in the leads of his first American film, made his international break with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Män som hatar kvinnor) which won him a Guldbagge, Sweden’s national film prize, for best feature (and best actress for Rapace).

“In the US I might make a film every third year and make three times as much money as in Denmark, but I hope that I can change between a large production here and a small intense movie at home,” Arden Oplev told Danish film magazine ekko.

His 2006 feature debut We Shall Overcome (Drømmen), which ended No 5 on the year’s local chart from 406,000 admissions, is the story of 12-year-old Fritz, who challenges repressive school authority in late 1960s’ Denmark with support from a hippie teacher.