Valhalla Rising (film)

Valhalla Rising
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNicolas Winding Refn
Written by
  • Nicolas Winding Refn
  • Roy Jacobsen
Produced by
  • Johnny Andersen
  • Bo Ehrhardt
  • Henrik Danstrup
Starring
CinematographyMorten Søborg
Edited byMat Newman
Music by
Production
company
Nimbus Film Productions
Distributed byScanbox Entertainment
Release dates
  • 4 September 2009 (2009-09-04) (Venice)
  • 31 March 2010 (2010-03-31) (Denmark)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryDenmark
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5.7 million
Box office$731,613

Valhalla Rising is a 2009 English-language Danish period adventure film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, co-written by Refn and Roy Jacobsen, and starring Mads Mikkelsen. The film takes place "most certainly during the twelfth century of our era" and follows a Norse warrior named One-Eye and a boy as they travel with a band of Christian Crusaders by ship in the hopes of finding the Holy Land. Instead, they find themselves in North America where they are assailed by Natives and dark visions.

Shot entirely in Scotland, the title is derived from the combination of Kenneth Anger's films Scorpio Rising and Lucifer Rising with a Viking theme. While the film garnered generally positive reviews, it only made back about $731,613 of its $5.7 million production cost.