Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director of the Oscar-winning The Lives of Others, is set to bring the Belgian fantasy comic series Thorgal to the screen, THR is reporting.
Created by Belgian writer Jean Van Hamme and Polish artist Grzegorz Roskinski and launching in 1977, Thorgal follows Thorgal Aegirsson, a mysterious child who is found and raised by a Viking chieftain grows to be a great warrior, using his skills to battle against powers greater than anything the Vikings could have imagined. The series has enjoyed huge success, selling 14 million volumes around the globe.
“I have loved Thorgal since I was a teenager living in Brussels, where I stood in line for hours in front of a bookstore with hundreds of other fans whenever a new volume was published,” said Donnersmarck. “It was always worth the wait. Jan Mojto and I have been trying to get the rights to Thorgal for almost a decade. We are thrilled that van Hamme, Rosinski and Le Lombard have decided to trust us with their greatest treasure and will strive to translate its full power to the screen. The stories are so good, though, that it’s almost harder to get it wrong than to get it right.”
Although details on the Thorgal adaptation are scarce, THR’s report suggests that it will take the form of a high-end TV series in the vein of Game of Thrones and Vikings.
Originally published November 2, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
