The American financiers will have to accept that it's about two children who die, and that twice, says Thomas Vinterberg to TT.
He is in Venice to present his apocalyptic TV series "Families like ours" (which will be on TV4 later this winter). When he gets back to Copenhagen, he will continue to write the script for "The Brothers Lionheart" in collaboration with Simon Stephens.
It will be exciting, it's tragic. And it has to be. You can't castrate it.
"Great challenge"
For Thomas Vinterberg, "The Brothers Lionheart" is one of the most important literary experiences from his childhood.
It was a bible for my generation, so it's a noble task to bring it out into the world. It will be done in English, and it's a great challenge. I think it's better to do it as a TV series than as a film – the old film was very compressed, now the whole book will be included.
He laughs when TT says that the dragon Katla will probably be better than it was in the 1977 version.
Yes, Katla wasn't that good. But they did the best they could.
"Canada could be an option"
Vinterberg is careful to point out that nothing is certain until the script is finished and the co-financiers have had their say.
We don't know yet where we'll be filming, but Canada could be an option. That country is similar to Sweden.
At the same time as he's working on "The Brothers Lionheart", he's juggling several other possible projects, including one for Brad Pitt's company Plan B.
16 years ago, I was asked if I didn't have something "for Brad". I didn't have. But now I've got a script from them that's touching and would be interesting.
Astrid Lindgren's book, published in 1973, is about the brothers Jonathan and Skorpan who die and come to the land of Nangijala. There, they take part in the battle against the tyrant Tengil and the dragon Katla.
In 1977, Olle Hellbom made a film of the story with Staffan Götestam and Lars Södersahl in the roles of the two brothers.
