Netflix Secures Alexander Payne’s Next Film, Mads Mikkelsen Set to Star

Netflix has made a deal to finance and release the next film by director Alexander Payne, in which Mads Mikkelsen will star, Deadline reports. The role will show a softer side of Mikkelsen, who notably starred as Hannibal Lecter on NBC’s Hannibal. The film is said to be about a Danish journalist who takes a road trip across the U.S. with his teenage daughter while writing a story for a newspaper.

Shooting will begin next month in Sweden, Denmark, and the U.S. The script was written by Erlend Loe. The film is produced by Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa of Bona Fide Productions, and Lizette Jonjic of Zentropa Productions.

Several distributors bid for Payne’s film, so the deal gives Netflix a promising entry for awards season next year. Payne has won two Oscars for writing, one for The Descendants and another for Sideways, both of which he directed. His other notable films include Citizen Ruth, Oscar-nominated Election, Nebraska and About Schmidt.

The currently untitled film is planned for release in fall 2020.