The Northman

Plot

In AD 895, King Aurvandill returns to Hrafnsey and participates in a ceremony with his son Amleth, who vows to avenge his father if slain. The next morning, Amleth's uncle Fjölnir beheads Aurvandill and carries away Queen Gudrún. Amleth escapes and swears vengeance.

Years later, Amleth is an ulfhéðinn berserker. After sacking a village, a Seeress tells him to remember his oath and that his fate is tied to a Maiden-King. He learns Fjölnir has lost his throne and now farms sheep in Iceland.

Amleth poses as a thrall and boards a ship to Iceland, meeting an enslaved Slavic woman named Olga. At Fjölnir's farm, Amleth learns his mother married Fjölnir and bore a son. Amleth's strength impresses Fjölnir, who keeps him and Olga.

Production

Alexander Skarsgård, fascinated with Viking history since childhood, had long sought a Viking project. Robert Eggers became interested after a 2016 trip to Iceland, where he met Björk and Sjón. In 2017, Skarsgård and Eggers discussed a Viking film, and Eggers and Sjón began writing. The story is based on Saxo Grammaticus's legend of Amleth, with additional influences from the Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, and several sagas.

Archaeologist Neil Price, folklorist Terry Gunnell, and historian Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir served as consultants. Eggers also cited Conan the Barbarian as inspiration. In October 2019, the project was announced.

Casting included Skarsgård, Kidman, Taylor-Joy, Bill Skarsgård, and Dafoe, confirmed in December, with Claes Bang added. Filming began in 2020 in Belfast. Björk, her daughter, Kate Dickie, and Ethan Hawke joined in August. Bill Skarsgård dropped out in September and was replaced by Gustav Lindh.

Release

Originally scheduled for April 8, 2022, The Northman was pushed to April 22. Focus Features distributed in the US, Universal Pictures internationally.

Special screenings occurred in Stockholm, Hamburg, Rome, London, and Belfast before the world premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on April 18. Wide releases began early in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and other countries from April 13. The film was released on VOD on May 13, 2022, and on Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on June 7, 2022.

Reception

The Northman grossed $34.2 million in the US and Canada and $35.4 million elsewhere, totaling $69.6 million against a $70–90 million budget. In its opening weekend, it debuted to $12.3 million from 3,223 theaters, finishing fourth. It earned $6.4 million in its second weekend, $2.9 million in its third, $1.75 million in its fourth, and $1.1 million in its fifth, dropping out of the top ten in its sixth. Internationally, it opened with $3.4 million from 15 markets, later expanding.

Eggers commented that the film met expectations of a bad marketplace and noted its strong VOD performance. In its PVOD debut, it was the top-rented title on iTunes, third on Vudu, and fourth on Google Play. IndieWire wrote that the film was elevated by theatrical exposure. In its debut week on DVD/Blu-ray, it ranked number one on both the NPD VideoScan First Alert chart and the Blu-ray disc sales chart.

Did You Know?

• A 160-page book titled The Northman: A Call to the Gods, written by Simon Abrams, was published on November 8, 2022.
• The film's advertising campaign briefly attracted notoriety due to a series of posters commissioned for the New York subway system that did not include the film's title.
• The film's story is based on the legend of Amleth, which directly inspired William Shakespeare's Hamlet.