In what could be considered a slight departure from the Prometheus sequel and The Good Wife, Ridley Scott has just signed on to produce a film about the black metal church burnings that occured in Norway in the 1990’s.
While he’s producing, music video director Jonas Åkerlund, will be helming the flick after having directed music videos for the likes of Madonna, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera and Metallica. Further adding to his credibility are his two films Spun and Horseman and his familiarity with the black metal scene from his stint as the drummer for Bathory back in the 80’s.
the film stars Rory Culkin (Scream 4, Signs) and Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class) and is based on the book, Lords of Chaos.
While the project sounds intriguing, not everyone is jumping for joy. Mayhem co-founder and bassist Necrobutcher told Rolling Stone:
“This book Lords of Chaos is fucking crap and that some stupid Swedes are gonna make a movie out of it is not OK. I will do everything I can to stop this film…. Tell the Swedes and the Hollywood people to go fuck themselves.”
If you aren’t familiar with the Black Church Burnings, here’s pretty much the gist of it.
Between the years of 1992-1996, Norwegian black metal fans burned 50 of Christian churches around the country, including multiple churches that were considered national landmarks.
Several band members were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for either inciting the arsons or taking part in the burnings themselves.
Here’s some footage of the band, in case you are not familiar with Mayhem: