Robert Eggers’ star-studded Viking epic, The Northman, which stars Alexander Skarsgård in an Iceland-based Viking revenge saga, wrapped production earlier this week. Eggers co-wrote the script with Icelandic poet and novelist, Sjón. Skarsgård stars alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Claes Bang and Icelandic singer-songwriter, Björk. 

Although production on The Northman was originally set to start in March, the pandemic pushed filming back to the late summer in Ireland. Eggers has said that the film is his most ambitious to date. 

“There’s many locations in the film,” Eggers said. “So we were constantly going on scouts to find places or reassess places that we have found and we’re building sets there. We’re designing all these worlds, building these villages, we’re making thousands of costumes and props, training the horses the things they’ll need to do, designing the shots of the films.” 

Before heading to the set of The Northman, Kidman told Collider that she felt “pretty terrified.” “I sound calm but you shouldn’t see what’s going on inside,” Kidman said. Taylor-Joy also spoke recently with Collider and talked about how Eggers’ new film will be something that audiences have never seen before. 

“Robert and I have now been friends longer than we have been co-workers,” said Taylor-Joy. “Getting the opportunity to create art together again is amazing. We have both grown so much apart and now we get to grow back together. I am so proud to be a part of this project. Every moment on set I am proud. I think we will be presenting to the world something it genuinely hasn’t seen before. I just feel so humbled I get to be a part of it.” 

Eggers last film, The Lighthouse, earned critical acclaim upon its release in 2019. It was also nominated for Best Cinematography Oscar at the 2020 Academy Awards.