Curious?

Ever wondered why Hollywood’s gone Swedish all of a sudden?

No, I don’t mean the famous ‘naughty’ movie ‘I Am Curious (Yellow)’ – which is still a great title. I know you know about Bergman, von Triers and dogma. I mean, first, we had a scary/great vampire movie ‘Let The Right One In’, which was also 1) a terrific novel; I read it in translation and it was still good. (I can say, ‘cheese sandwich’ in Swedish – I think it is ‘bond ost’?) and 2) has been remade into the American thriller ‘Let Me In’, a much shorter title that caused much mirth. It also has a great tagline: Innocence dies. Abby doesn’t. WOOOOO! Gave me chills so I need my cardigan!

Well, one’s not enough for a Swedish invasion, is it? Wait. There’s more.‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ that shakes everyone up so much as a book that the Millennium Triolgy of late Swedish author Stieg Larsson (who did NOT drive for Top Gear, okay?) have all been made into films – first Swedish films and now at least one American one, with Daniel Craig and that girl from ‘The Social Network’ Rooney Mara.

Then there’s the famous mockumentary ‘The Troll Hunter’. That’s Svenska too.

So what’s the fourth that proves the rule? A gangster film called ‘Snabba Cash’, which sounds like a rapper crossed with Scooby Doo but is actually a hot property bought by The Weinstein Corp, that’s what. And it’s called ‘Easy Money’ now. Also, it features Zac Ephron as a cocaine dealer. (He never uses the stuff, though, so it’s okay.) Just like The Millenium Trilogy, ‘Snabba Cash’ is also a three-parter aching to be made. The Swedish director of the film – Daniel Espinosa (Chilean heritage) – is in prep to direct Denzel in ‘Safe House’. ‘Deadpool’, Ryan Reynolds big outing, may be directed by Adam Berg, another Swede. It’ll be Berg’s feature film debut, so, no pressure there.

And I’m not even going to mention Tommy Wirkola who did the Sundance hit ‘Dead Snow’ and is lined up for ‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’ because, you know, he’s not Swedish. He’s Norwaygian.

Thought you could trick me, eh?

The question remains why Hollywood headed for Sweden when they could go anywhere in the world for remake material and talent? Well, not only do Swedes speak really good English but they’ve also got a long cinematic tradition.

And, most of the time, they’re kinda good looking.