Viggo Mortensen’s Next Movie Will Feature “No Movie Stars”

Viggo Mortensen decided he won’t direct another movie. That is, unless he’s able to do it exactly the way he wants to. This week, the actor and director talked to Variety and revealed that he had a whole directing career path planned for him but found out that it was not a straight line ahead. Mortensen recently directed the acclaimed western The Dead Don’t Hurt.

During the interview, the Lord of the Rings star commented that his next project has been in the works for many years, but it’s such an ambitious idea that he felt he needed to helm Falling (his directing debut) and The Dead Don’t Hurt so that he could signal to Hollywood that he can be trusted as a filmmaker. When he describes his next idea for a movie, though, it’s possible to realize why it is such a difficult endeavor to get it off the ground:

“It’s only indigenous languages, it has no white characters and there will be no movie stars – just lots and lots of horses. But I am convinced it will have wide appeal, because it’s a universal coming-of-age story about an adolescent boy.”

Mortensen went on to mention that it’s hard to find funding for a film with no movie stars because “the people who put up money are very conservative.” This means that to get some green lights, the actor and director has to compromise on things he’s not prepared to. He mentioned that creative control is a must for the new movie, and that he “won’t make a movie unless I have final cut.”

What Does “Having Final Cut” Mean?

To have final cut means that the director retains the creative control over what is being produced and that his version is the one that ends up on screens. This is frequently not the case, and especially with movies produced by mega-studios like Disney and Warner Bros., the director’s voice may get lost among what studio executives want the public to see. This has been the subject of debate for many years, and also the reason why “director’s cuts” exist — they often bring the tone and vision that the director originally wanted for the movie but ended up getting lost due to studio interference.

If Mortensen indeed decides to make his next movie with no movie stars, he’ll have to find some huge names to produce the feature, so that he can lure studios in to get funded. In any case, it might be a while before we hear about this project again. Stick with Collider to find out more news about the next Viggo Mortensen movie as soon as it is announced.