Robert Eggers’ brutal historical epic The Northman is winning rave reviews ahead of its theatrical debut next week, with the filmmaker’s $70 million revenge saga hoping to become one of the increasingly rare R-rated movies to make a sizeable dent in the box office.
It would be an understatement to say the film wouldn’t work in a PG-13 environment, but Disney had designs on mounting a very similar blockbuster two decades ago. A viral Twitter thread from Shannon & Swift has broken down what happened to the Mouse House’s Norse-inspired tale, and it’s fascinating stuff.
Described as “a high-impact action adventure”, the duo sold their pitch to the studio in a six-figure deal, in what sounds like an intoxicating hybrid of The Northman, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Thor, which would have followed “a washed-up Viking legend” who gathers his old crew of marauders for one last mission to save the world from a nefarious force.
The story was poised to incorporate giants, berserkers, sea monsters, Valkyries, and other mythological connections in what certainly sounds to be a sprawling hybrid of the gritty battle film, and an effects-driven crowd-pleaser with franchise potential.
Disney’s mid-2000s slate saw the company try to replicate the Pirates of the Caribbean formula on several occasions through the likes of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Lone Ranger, and others to little success, so there would be no guarantee Shannon & Swift’s Viking tale would have been a success, even though we kind of wish it had happened.
