Director Tomas Alfredson returns with The Snowman, his first film since 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Adapted from the novel by Norwegian crime-writer Jo Nesbø, The Snowman follows Harry Hole (yes, really), a detective with unorthodox methods who finds himself investigating the disappearance of a woman whose scarf was found wrapped around a snowman.
Michael Fassbender plays Harry Hole (yes, really), and he leads a cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson, Chloë Sevigny, Charlotte Gainsbourg, J.K. Simmons, Val Kilmer, James D’Arcy, and Toby Jones. An adaptation of The Snowman has been knocking around since at least 2013, when Martin Scorsese was first attached to helm the film, but then the Let the Right One In director took the helm and ahead of a release this fall, the first trailer has landed.
“It’s got that Scandi-noir element to it, for sure. I think it’s going to be very rich. I love working with Tomas Alfredson. He’s an absolutely great filmmaker. And I think it’s going to be scary, and I think it’s going to be edge-of-the-seat stuff. I like it because Harry Hole’s a very flawed genius in his department of work. He’s an excellent detective. But he kind of goes off the rails. He’s very human,” Fassbender said of the film. “Let’s say, if there was a fight sequence with somebody. He’s not Jack Reacher. He comes off the worse for wear a lot of the times in these encounters. And I like that. There’s something kind of funny about that. I find that there’s really comical elements there.”
See the first trailer below.
Michael Fassbender (X-Men series), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Independence Day: Resurgence), Val Kilmer (Heat) and Academy Award® winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) star in The Snowman, a terrifying thriller from director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), based on Jo Nesbø’s global bestseller.
When an elite crime squad’s lead detective (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of a brilliant recruit (Ferguson), the cop must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall.
The Snowman is produced by Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner (The Theory of Everything, Les Misérables), as well as Piodor Gustafsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Robyn Slovo (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).
A Working Title Production—in association with Another Park Film—the thriller is executive produced by Nesbø, Niclas Salomonsson, Martin Scorsese, Alfredson, Liza Chasin and Amelia Granger.
The film was shot entirely on location in Norway in the cities of Oslo and Bergen and the area of Rjukan.
The Snowman opens October 20.