06.12.10:

May 2011 is the target date for the Marvel Studios superhero film - THOR. The cast is as follows:

The first on-set footage was revealed last week on "Entertainment Tonight". The set visit featured mostly Chris Helmsworth and Natalie Portman chatting about non-specific details regarding the film. Director Kenneth Branagh seems intent on keeping his production super secret. The footage reveals the American southwest setting of the picture as well as a chamber that may very well be a piece of the Asgard set. You can also get glimpses of Anthony Hopkins as the one-eye Odin and a couple shots of Stellan. In theaters May 6, 2011, Thor, the arrogant Norse warrior, is forced to live among humans as punishment after reigniting an ancient war in his world. His true mettle is put to the test when a villainous foe sends dark forces from the realm of Asgard to invade Earth. The photo above of Helmsworth as Thor is the first image released.

Next month Stellan will be off to Trollhättan in Sweden to take part in Lars Von Trier's film, MELANCHOLIA. It will be the first time that Stellan and his son Alexander will play father and son on film. Stellan says he will play a guy who works in the advertising business. The proud father says he's thrilled about his son's success in Hollywood. "It's not always enough to be good to be successful. Alexander has been working very hard in Los Angeles for several years now. It's fun to see how bloody good he is!"

06.07.10:

A couple days ago the NY Post published an article on the Skarsgård family, namely to zero in on the "True Blood" fame of Alexander. I believe it was hastily written; hence, it's poor journalism with several errors and glaring omissions, such as the fact that Stellan's seventh child was born to his second wife, Melanie Everett! Shame on the NY Post!

05.18.10:

Stellan made an appearance last weekend at the Cannes Film Festival! On May 14th he attended a pre-screening party on Harle Yacht to celebrate the new film, MOOMINS AND THE COMET CHASE. The Finnish stereoscopic 3D animation film by Maria Lindberg is based on the popular characters created by Finnish writer Tove Jansson. The characters inspired various TV shows spanning more than three decades and were a huge hit all over Scandinavia and in many parts of Europe and Japan. Stellan was joined at Cannes by Helena Mattson and Mads Mikkelsen, who also provided voices for the Moomin characters. In a interview with Stellan at Cannes, he shared his reaction to the film, "Wow, finally an art movie for six-year-olds!" The film will be released domestically by FS Film on August 8. Nordisk Film will open the film with Scandinavian rights and Myndform in Iceland. The film's producer Tom Carpelan said a second Moomin film based on the Polish TV series from the 1970s will start production in the autumn. Click here for more photos from Cannes.

Every year a lot of film news comes out of the Cannes Film Festival, and one project creating some buzz is Stellan's film, FRANKIE & ALICE, starring Halle Berry as a stripper with multiple personalities. The Hollywood Reporter’s Duane Byrge saw the film in the marketplace and describes Berry's character as follows: “She switches from hard-drinking, promiscuous lady of the night to a teetotaling, racist Southern white belle, and, to boot, a genius-level kid. Not surprisingly, this lands her in a lot of trouble, personally and legally.” The film is still in search of an outlet for distribution. Here's an excerpt from Bryge's review:

Overall, "Frankie & Alice" is a well-wrought psychological drama that delves into the dark side of one woman's psyche. Berry is spellbinding as Frankie, a young L.A. exotic dancer. If stripping for a living weren't chaotic enough, Frankie is plagued by gigantic personality swings: She switches from hard-drinking, promiscuous lady of the night to a teetotaling, racist Southern white belle, and, to boot, a genius-level kid. Not surprisingly, this lands her in a lot of trouble, personally and legally.

Crammed into a public psych ward after an "episode," Frankie is left in the care of an emotionally drained psychiatrist (Stellan Skarsgard). The good doctor is a former LSD "researcher" who is still trying to plug into another reality. Down to basic prognosis, however, he's essentially a mope who medicates with tuna sandwiches, jazz and liquor. Frankie gets his professional and personal juices flowing again...

Although six scribes credited with the screenplay usually predicts erratic story and mood swings, "Frankie" does not suffer from multiple writer disorder. Both clinically and dramatically, it's an engaging titillation despite a somewhat flat last half-hour. Throughout, its exhibitionist proclivities are evened-out under director Geoffrey Sax's astute guidance and the intelligent, nuanced performances of Berry and Skarsgård. In addition, the supporting performances are rock-solid, particularly Phylicia Rashad's steadfast portrayal of Frankie's supportive but enabling mother. Scoped in a hard-noir style, with mean-streets Canada standing in for Los Angeles, "Frankie & Alice " is a technically well-balanced entertainment.

05.12.10: 

Twenty minutes  of "King of Bastøy", the Norwegian drama, will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival this week. Four whole scenes from the Marius Holst-directed film starring Stellan will be shown. Kjetil Omberg, general manager of Euforia Film, is in charge of promoting the film. In addition, producer Karin Julsrud is also attending the festival. The Norwegian film, with a budget of 50 million kroners, is a co-production with Poland, France and Sweden. There were 14 languages spoken on the set.