MUBI has acquired the third and final instalment of Lars von Trier’s “The Kingdom” trilogy.
The distributor, producer and streamer has snapped up the medical horror for North America, U.K. and Ireland, Latin America, Turkey and India. Presented by TrustNordisk and produced by Zentropa Entertainments, “The Kingdom Exodus” closes the controversial director’s TV series, which first premiered in 1994 on Danish public broadcaster DR.
Season 3 will world premiere out of competition at the Venice International Film Festival in September, and land exclusively on MUBI in the fall, with episodes dropping on a weekly episodic basis. Variety understands that Scandinavian streamer Viaplay, which was originally announced as the streaming home for Season 3 this fall, still retains streaming rights for the Nordics.
The show follows the staff and patients of a neurosurgical ward in a Copenhagen hospital. In Season 3, sleepwalker Karen will seek answers to the unresolved questions of the series in order to save the hospital from doom. Sound asleep one night, Karen wanders into the darkness and inexplicably ends up in front of the hospital. “The gate to the Kingdom is opening once more…” teases an official synopsis for the series.
The new season’s cast includes Mikael Persbrandt, Lars Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Tuva Novotny and David Dencik, with Alexander Skarsgård and David Dencik guest-starring.
MUBI has also acquired the first two seasons of “The Kingdom,” which have been newly restored in never-before-seen director’s cuts, which will be welcome news for fans of the show, who have often found it difficult to locate the previous seasons from 1994 and 1997. Both seasons will stream exclusively on MUBI ahead of the broadcast of the five-part “The Kingdom Exodus.”
Von Trier’s recent films include “The House That Jack Built” (2018), “Nymphomaniac” (2014), “Melancholia” (2011) and “Dogville” (2004). The Danish helmer was famously banned for seven years from the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 for declaring at a “Melancholia” press conference that he “sympathized” with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. He was also accused of sexual harassment by Bjork in the wake of the #MeToo movement and has kept a relatively low profile in recent years. The director has denied these allegations.
Von Trier wrote the script for “The Kingdom Exodus” in collaboration with Niels Vørsel, with whom he also wrote the previous seasons. Louise Vesth is producing for Zentropa Entertainments with NENT Group and DR as co-producers.
“The Kingdom Exodus” is presented by Viaplay and DR, and the show is produced by Zentropa Entertainments in co-production with Film I Väst, Zentropa Sweden and Ginger Pictures. It is supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond and co-produced with support from BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance. The show was developed with the support of The Creative Europe Media Program of the European Union.
“MUBI is now home to ‘The Kingdom’ — an incredible show, and the first television series released by MUBI. Ever,” said founder and CEO Efe Cakarel. “We want to bring more great artistic visions to as many people as possible — whether that’s through film or series. ‘The Kingdom’ is the perfect first show to introduce episodic storytelling to MUBI, and marks one of our biggest steps forward as a company. We can’t wait to bring all three seasons to all our members, very soon.”
Susan Wendt, managing director of TrustNordisk, added: “We are excited to be working with MUBI on this grand project and having their platform as a new home for Lars von Trier’s ‘The Kingdom’ series.”
MUBI negotiated the deal with Wendt. TrustNordisk handles international sales for the program.
