Danish director Nikolaj Arcel has signed on to direct Island Of Lost Souls for Universal Pictures.
And in doing so, he joins the likes of Michael Haneke and George Sluizer in a very exclusive club – directors who’ve remade their foreign-language films in the English language.
For Island Of Lost Souls is a remake of Arcel’s movie, De fortabte sjaeles o, which was one of the highest-grossing movies in Denmark in 2007.
And you can see why Universal were so keen to snap up the remake rights, for the story – in which a suburban teen finds herself caught up in the battle between ancient good and evil forces, when her brother is possessed by an 18th century magician – shows plenty of commercial promise.
Jennifer O’Kieffe has been tapped to write the screenplay, which means it’s early days yet. But we’ll keep an eye on this one.