It could be argued that all of Lars von Trier‘s efforts are "without precedent": singular visions from the mind of a filmmaker truly like no other. Because really, who else would’ve put together a five-and-a-half hour epic about a sex addict that starts with the woman being found beaten in an alley? And even as von Trier closes the book on "Nymphomaniac," with director’s cuts of both volumes screening for the first time together at the Venice Film Festival, he’s got another big project on the way.
The director —who vowed never to speak to the press again following his Nazi comment controversy at the Cannes Film Festival— appeared via video link at Venice over the weekend during the press conference for "Nymphomaniac Vol II — Director’s Cut" (check out three NSFW new clips here) and revealed his next project. Sort of. He didn’t say anything (though at one point Stellan Skarsgard held up a sign that said "lifeline" and called von Trier on his cellphone to help answer a question, relaying what the director said) but the filmmaker’s producer Louise Vesth did reveal what was next from the provocateur.
“Now, when he’s not able to speak, so he cannot say that it’s not true, I’m happy to announce that the next Lars von Trier project will be a TV series in the English language," she said. "He has a really really good idea which I cannot tell more about right now. He wants a huge cast and from what I heard, I’m sure that it will be something that you have never seen before and you will definitely never see again.”
The series will be called "The House That Jack Built," and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen adds that the show will be “without precedent” and warned that “you better hold your breath.” The plan is to bring together a big international cast, and of course, plots details aren’t being revealed due to von Trier still writing the script, with filming only to begin in 2016.
It would seem this project would be leapfrogging projects discussed earlier this year including an "action movie" and a horror film script titled "Detroit" (though it was unclear if he was going to helm the latter). Either way, we’re eagerly awaiting whatever von Trier does next, particularly as his last venture into television was the excellent and twisted "The Kingdom." What more could von Trier have up his sleeve? We’ll have to wait and see. [Deadline]