Cary Fukunaga wrapped production on his latest film, “Blood on Snow,” in March 2025. The film, a Jo Nesbø crime adaptation, includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Wva Green, Ben Mendelsohn, and Emma Laird. Nesbø wrote the script.
Today, we got an update on this dormant project. Sky has obtained the U.K. rights to “Blood on Snow,” and has set up a theatrical rollout for sometime in 2027. As of now, there is no U.S. distribution.
The story, taking place in 1970s Oslo, has two rival gang leaders fighting for territorial control. Meanwhile, Hoffman (Cumberbatch) hires a trusted hitman, Olav (Taylor-Johnson), a cold, efficient killer, to kill his wife. Instead of pulling the trigger, Olav hatches a scheme involving Oslo’s deadly gang war that turns him into Hoffman’s next target.
Nesbø has had a few of his novels turned into films, most notably “Headhunters” and “The Snowman.” This is his first foray into film writing, although he’s scripted three TV shows, all Norwegian-produced, including the upcoming Leonard Cohen biopic “So Long, Marianne.”
This will also be an interesting opportunity for Fukunaga to test the waters, so to speak—especially coming off five-year-old allegations of improper sexual behavior, which he has vehemently denied.
In 2021, Fukunaga was accused of pressuring an actress into doing a topless scene for “True Detective,” which she claimed wasn’t included in her contracted role as a stripper. This opened the floodgates against Fukunaga.
Months later, in April and May 2022, three women accused Fukunaga of various forms of sexual harassment, including “pursuing relationships with them” on the set of Apple TV’s “Masters of Air.” Then, on May 31, 2022, Rolling Stone added new allegations, via “nearly a dozen sources,” that Fukunaga pursued younger women on set.
This was all happening as Fukunaga was releasing his last film, 2021’s James Bond capper “No Time to Die.” Before these allegations, Fukunaga broke out with his high-wire, stylish directing in the first season of “True Detective.” He also helmed the much-lauded “Beasts of No Nation” and a popular Netflix series, “Manic.”
It’ll be interesting to see which U.S. distributor steps up to pick up “Blood on Snow”; my money’s on either Vertical or Briarcliff.
I can confirm that Joel Coen’s “Jack of Spades” is based on Frances Frederica Montrésor’s 1901 novel “The Alien: A Story of Middle Age.” It’s a ghost story. A gothic mystery.