The film adaptation of Lords of Chaos already looks to be one of the most polarizing metal stories of 2018. It’s coming, like it or not, and will be premiering this week at the Sundance Film Festival. Deadline sat down with producer Danny Gabai, director Jonas Akerlund and cast members Rory Culkin (Euronymous), Emory Cohen (Varg Vikernes), Valter Skarsgard and Sky Ferrerira to discuss the film, and Gabai says that even though many in the black metal community the film is based on have publicly denounced the film, they’re actually psyched about it.
“It’s kind of part of the whole black metal world to disapprove of a movie, but the truth is that we have been in contact with most of them, and the important players in this story are very excited about this movie, and they’ve been part of the development of the movie,” Åkerlund says. “That’s really what matters to us.”
“They reject the film, but they also kind of reject themselves,” Culkin added. “The film is sort of about inner conflict within the band. I don’t think they’re ever really satisfied with anything.”
And while the story, which centers on the story of Mayhem, of course involves suicide, murder and church burning, Gabai says it’s a lot more than that. Speaking about what Akerlund brought to the film, he makes it sound more like a coming of age film:|
“At the end of the day, these were just young, passionate kids who had a lot of energy and some really big ideas, but played around with some dangerous stuff in the quest for fame, or infamy or whatever you want to call it. And ultimately, it got out of their control,” Gabai explained. “There was such a humanistic way to how he talked about it, making people realize that it was much greater than just a heavy-metal murder movie, that there was actually something really universal and humanistic and beautiful about this story.”
It’ll be interesting to see what film critics think of the film, and we should know in the next few days. In the meantime, Varg Vikernes and Mayhem are probably sharpening their pitchforks for making it sound like they’re actually excited to see their story come to the big screen.
