The Berserker

England, 1085. One retired Viking. One young thief. One very bad day for William the Conqueror.

Harald the Barefoot just wanted to be left alone — with his treasures and the boat he was building for his trip to Valhalla. But the King's ambition thwarted his plans. This is a story worth fighting for — join us and let's give Harald the last stand he deserves.

The Story

William the Conqueror has ordered the Domesday Book — a census of every soul and possession in his kingdom. The Church is doing the dirty work.

Saga, a sharp young thief, is hired to interpret for Harald the Barefoot, a battle-scarred northman living on the fringes of the kingdom. Harald has no interest in being registered by anyone. He humiliates the monk and sends him packing. Saga stays.

These two outsiders — one who has fought his whole life, one who has spent hers running — find in each other an instant and unlikely kinship. As Harald's defiance of the Crown escalates and the king's men keep coming, their bond only deepens.

The king's most lethal force is closing in. Harald has never run from anything. And Saga finds she no longer wants to either.

An action film with the pace of a thriller and the heart of an unlikely family story.

Johan Bromander
Writer & Director

Director's Vision

I have always been intrigued by the time around the creation of the Domesday Book — the clash between what we now recognise as civilised society and the end of a more brutal, adventurous era belonging to the Vikings.

My father became obsessed with family research in the last years of his life. Our lineage can be traced all the way back to some very prominent Vikings — the kind I want to honour in this film, albeit in an exaggerated form.

Harald Barefoot is part William Munney from Unforgiven (1992), part Conan at the end of Conan the Barbarian (1982) — a man of violence who has chosen stillness, seen through the cultural prism of a Scandinavian Viking. His desire to be left alone is only rivalled by his desire to never, ever back down. And never pay any taxes.

Visually, I envision a stark aesthetic — grand cinematography, gritty set design, and the particular atmosphere of what happens after the high adventures of a violent man who has settled down to see out his days. Regret, loneliness, longing for excitement. Until one final battle suddenly becomes an option. One final grand adventure.

The Berserker will be a riveting exploration of the things in life that matter most: family, bravery, and steel. Because ultimately, nothing in life is certain... but death and taxes.

— Johan Bromander, Writer & Director

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"For all the stories untold" — Green Lighting Studio

Why this film needs to be made

Some scripts wake up the producer in you the moment you read them. The Berserker is one of those.

Johan Bromander — who will also direct — has written something that is genuinely hard to categorise, and all the better for it. We've worked with Johan before and know his strengths: sharp, propulsive writing, a keen eye for action, and a dark comedic sensibility that is entirely his own.

At its heart this is a grounded, human story. Harald is a battle-scarred viking who has turned his back on the world. But William the Conqueror's Domesday Book sends a monk to his door. Harald sends the monk packing. What follows is an escalating confrontation with the full force of the Crown — and a bond between Harald and Saga that neither of them saw coming.

We just couldn't say no to this journey with Johan and Harald.

— Anna Guðbjörg Magnúsdóttir & Bonita Drake, Film Partner Iceland

The Domesday Book, 1086

The king wanted to know everything.
Harald told him nothing.

Commissioned by William the Conqueror, the Domesday Book was the most ambitious survey of medieval England — a record of every landowner, every property, every soul. Those who refused to comply faced the full force of the Crown.

Harald the Barefoot had other plans.

Illustration from "Historic Byways and Highways of Old England" by William Andrews (1900). Public domain.

Credits

Written & Directed byJohan Bromander

GenreAction

Duration100 min

StatusIn Development

LanguagesEnglish, Danish, Swedish, French

CountriesIceland, Sweden

Produced byAnna Guðbjörg Magnúsdóttir & Bonita Drake — Film Partner Iceland

Co-producersMikael J Boson (Filmsnickeriet) & Anders Granström (LittleBig Productions), Sweden

Sales & DistributionGreen Lighting Studio AB
sales@greelistu.com

TheBerserker