Oh, this makes Todd a happy boy for a number of reasons.

With production of his UK crime picture Bronson now wrapped up Denmark's Nicholas Winding Refn has begun work on his long talked about viking epic Valhalla Rising, a film he has jokingly referred to as Pusher 600 BC. The film is beginning production in Scotland - if the original plan holds it will also shoot some here in Canada - and actors Jamie Sives and Gary Lewis will join Mads Mikkelsen in the cast. Here's the synopsis:

For years, One-Eye, a mute warrior of supernatural strength, has been held prisoner by the chieftain Barde. Aided by a boy, Are, he kills his captor and together they escape, beginning a journey into the heart of darkness. On their flight from bounty hunters, One-Eye and Are board a Viking vessel for Norway, but the ship is soon engulfed by an endless fog that first disintegrates as they sight an unknown land. As the new land reveals its secrets and the Vikings meet a ghastly fate, One-Eye discovers his true self.

Okay, why am I happy? One, Refn is brilliant and we've now got two new films to look forward to from him. Two, I just love the idea of a hard-ass viking picture. Three, I absolutely fell in love with Scottish actor Jamie Sives when he took the lead in Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself but have seen him in precisely nothing since. Obviously this is a totally different picture than Wilbur but Mikkelsen was in that one, too, and the pair of them play very well together. Nice.