The English-languageForce Majeureremake now has its leading roles and a pair of directors. Back in 2015, Emmy winning actressJulia Louis-Dreyfussigned on to star in an American iteration of the hilarious and sad 2014 Swedish film, which was famously (and shockingly) snubbed of a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination. Now Deadline reports thatWill Ferrellis in talks to co-star opposite Louis-Dreyfus as a husband and wife duo who take their family for a vacation at a ski lodge, only for things to go south quickly.
In the Swedish version, an avalanche approaches the family as they’re enjoying a meal outdoors. The husband makes a run for it, forsaking his family for his own survival. Except the avalanche proves to only be a dusting, which means his family is still alive and fine—and pissed. What ensues inRuben Östlund’s original film is a weird, sad, depressing, hilarious comedy that’s tough to pin down tonally, but a joy to watch.
For this English-language version,Nat FaxonandJim Rashhave now signed on to direct. Faxon and Rash are successful performers in their own right, but made their feature directorial debut with the 2013 dramedyThe Way Way BackstarringSteve CarellandToni Collette. They won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay forAlexander Payne’s 2011 filmThe Descendants, but thisForce Majeureremake marks their first directorial effort since helming episodes ofCommunityin 2015.
While I’m a big fan of Ferrell and Dreyfus, I’m a bit worried that the diverse tonal range of the original will be lost in over-the-top comedy here. Hopefully I’m wrong—both Ferrell and Dreyfus have proven themselves adept at drama as well as comedy, so they could certainly go that route. One key piece of excitement for this remake is the fact thatJesse Armstrong, who wrote the filmFour Lionsand created the terrific HBO seriesSuccession, wrote the screenplay. If anyone can maintain that balance of moral bankruptcy, compassion, and comedy, it’s Armstrong.
We’ll see soon enough as production on the Fox Searchlight picture is due to get underway in Austria in early 2019. Watch the trailer for the Swedish version below.
