Directly released on video in France, in September 2021, the Danish thriller “Riders of Justice” with Mads Mikkelsen will be the subject of an American remake, directed by the directors of “Cri du falcon”.
The Americans love Mads Mikkelsen so much (and we understand them!) that, when they don’t have him playing a bad guy in a Hollywood production, they take over his Danish films to produce remakes.
After the Wedding was entitled to it in 2019, Chris Rock will direct that of Drunk produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and today it is the turn of Riders of Justice to be there. An action thriller directed by Anders Thomas Jensen (who directed the actor in all his feature films from The Green Butchers to Men and Chicken via Adam’s Apples), which the Covid diverted from our theaters.
First broadcast exclusively on CANAL+ in September 2021, Riders of Justice tells the story of a Danish soldier stationed in Afghanistan, forced to rush home when his wife dies in a metro accident. And who sets out on a vengeful quest when one of the survivors tells him that the disaster was in fact a carefully orchestrated attack.
As is often the case in Danish cinema (and even more so with this director), the result shone thanks to his way of mixing genres, the thriller and the action being tinged with a properly dark humor. So much so that one wonders if the cocktail can retain its taste during its journey to the United States.
A duo of unique directors
Good news on this front: written by the screenwriters of the original, the remake will be directed by Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson, to whom we owe the unique Cry of the Falcon (The Peanut Butter Falcon in VO), Audience Award at the Deauville Festival in 2019. A drama carried by Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson, which seduced for its ability to think outside the box.
If the American version of Riders of Justice were to materialize shortly, it would then be their third feature film after Los Frikis, expected this year in American theaters, and which we could imagine seeing in Deauville. It now remains to be seen who will succeed Mads Mikkelsen in this remake, which will not be an easy task.