James R | On 19, Jan 2021

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Joe Cole will star in Netflix film Against the Ice.

Directed by Danish helmer Peter Flinth, the English-language film follows Denmark’s Alabama Expedition in 1909. It was led by Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who was attempting to disprove the United States’ claim to North Eastern Greenland, a claim that was rooted in the idea that Greenland was broken up into two different pieces of land.

Leaving their crew behind with the ship, Mikkelsen sleds across the ice with his inexperienced crew member, Iver Iversen (Joe Cole). The two men succeed in finding the proof that Greenland is one island, but returning to the ship takes longer and is much harder than expected. Battling extreme hunger, fatigue and a polar bear attack, they finally arrive to find their ship crushed in the ice and the camp abandoned. Hoping to be rescued, they now must fight to stay alive. As the days grow longer, their mental hold on reality starts to fade, breeding mistrust and paranoia, a dangerous cocktail in their fight for survival.

The film is based on the original Danish novel Two Against the Ice by Ejnar Mikkelsen, with Coster-Waldau adapting it for the screen alongside co-writer Joe Derrick. The film is produced by Baltasar Kormákur and his RVK Studios, the Icelandic company behind the Netflix original series Katla. The DoP is Torben Forsberg, the sound recordist is Pétur Einarsson and the editor is Morten Hojbjerg (The Crown). The music is composed by Oscar Nominee Volker Bertelmann.

On screen, Coster-Waldau is joined by Charles Dance (The Crown) and Heida Reed (Poldark).

The Game of Thrones star says: “Against the Ice has been a passion project for me from the very beginning. It combines a lot of themes that excite me: adventure, Greenland, companionship, loyalty and love. It is an intense exploration of two men, two opposites, trapped in an epic dangerous setting. It is also a story of living under extreme pressure and circumstances, of constant struggle for survival, fighting off threats of extreme cold, lack of food, hungry polar bears and not least the frailty of the human mind. Peter Flinth sent me the book Two Against the Ice by Ejnar Mikkelsen. I read it, fell in love with it and started adapting it together with Joe Derrick. Together we set up our own banner: ill kippers. Against the Ice is our first project. Luck would have it that Netflix wanted to be the home for our film, which I will forever be grateful for. To be able to shoot this film with Peter Flinth directing and Baltasar Kormákur producing is and has been a dream scenario for me. I cannot wait to share Against the Ice with audiences everywhere.”

Principal photography recently wrapped on the film, with a release date slated for later this year.

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