'Game Of Thrones' Director Brian Kirk To Helm Remake Of Icelandic Thriller 'Jar City'

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by Joe Cunningham
September 21, 2012 10:22 AM
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“Game of Thrones” directors aren’t doing too badly for themselves of late. After the runaway success of the first two seasons of the show, their names are tossed into the ring for a lot of high-profile projects and Alan Taylor went one better by landing the gig for “Thor: The Dark World.” Established television director Brian Kirk (“Luck,” “Luther,” “Great Expectations”) was also talked about in relation to that job, and while it didn't pan out, it looks like he’s now got his reward.

Kirk has signed on to direct a remake of the Icelandic crime drama “Jar City,” because, you know, Nordic crime is so hot right now. The original 2006 film, directed by Baltasar Kormakur ("Contraband"), followed a detective investigating a new murder which he believes may shed new light on an unsolved rape from over 30 years ago – and even that short synopsis has us thinking about “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

This project has been in the works for a long time now, and was once set up over at Overture before the company collapsed a couple of years ago. But, the timing may be better than ever, as it seems we can’t escape Nordic film and television right now, nor can Hollywood resist the temptation to remake it. Based on some of Kirk’s earlier work we’re sure he’ll be fairly comfortable in this genre, but we’re also sure he’d probably much prefer to be directing Chris Hemsworth right now. Hopefully this can develop into a decent alternative. [LA Times]

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MJ | September 21, 2012 10:57 AMReply

Also this is another case like Gone Baby Gone where they're randomly adapting a novel from the middle of a series. A few years ago Kormakur was working on a remake of it set in New Orleans but that fell apart. I wonder if that contributed to his choice to make Contraband (well that & the chance to adapt a movie he starred in).
MJ | September 21, 2012 10:53 AMReply

No sadly this story is far less intricate than Dragon Tattoo & doesn't feature the compelling characters that elevated Larsson's books above the success of typical genre fare. Jar City is actually one of the author's less interesting books & yet it's the one being adapted into a movie for the second time.