Erik Poppe To Direct Remake Of The Emigrants

Norwegian director Erik Poppe (The King’s Choice) will direct The Emigrants (Utvandrarna), adapted by Siv Rajendram Eliassen and Anne Bache-Wiig from the series of novels by Vilhem Moberg. Production will begin in 2020.

The Emigrants follows Kristina Nilsson, who together with her family emigrates to America from poverty stricken Sweden during the 1850s, embarking upon a long and dangerous journey in the hope of a better life for their children.

Producer, Fredrik Wikström Nicastro, said: “Ever since I first watched Erik Poppe’s film Troubled Water, I have been impressed by his character studies and with The King’s Choice he mastered that to create a great epic film for a broad audience.”

“Erik’s latest film Utøya, which he created together with script writers Siv Rajendram Eliassen and Anne Bache-Wiig, had total presence and reached a global audience. We now very much look forward to creating a film of Vilhelm Moberg’s story about Kristina together with them.”

Oscar nominated films The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972), directed by Jan Troell with Liv Ullmann and Max Von Sydow in the leading roles, were both adapted from the same source material by Vilhelm Moberg.