In 1994, Lars von Trier was inspired by David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and the French mini-series Phantom of the Louvre (a.k.a. Belphegor) to create a Danish television mini-series called The Kingdom, or Riget. A sequel mini-series followed in 1997, then von Trier and Kingdom collaborator Niels Vorsel wrote the scripts for a third and final mini-series. Sadly, the third mini-series was never able to go into production because several members of the show’s cast died within a short period of time. Back in December of 2020, we heard that the show would be coming back for a five episode run, with von Trier directing all five episodes. The revival is called The Kingdom Exodus – and The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that arthouse streaming service Mubi has acquired the rights to bring The Kingdom Exodus to North America, the U.K., Ireland, Latin America, Turkey, and India.
This is the first TV series that Mubi, which is focused on films, has ever acquired. Mubi has also acquired the first two The Kingdom series, which have been restored in never-before-seen director’s cuts.
Set in a state-of-the-art hospital that also happens to be haunted, The Kingdom combines surreal horror with slapstick comedy and a twisting mystery plot. The Kingdom Exodus follows Karen, a sleepwalker and obsessive The Kingdom series watcher who is desperately trying to find the answers to the unresolved questions of the show. One night, while in a deep sleep, she wanders into the darkness and ends up in the Kingdom hospital.
The Kingdom Exodus stars Asta Kamma August, Mikael Persbrandt, Lars Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Tuva Novotny, Alexander Skarsgård, and David Dencik. Presented by Scandinavian streamer Viaplay and Danish public broadcaster DR, the revival was produced by Louise Vesth for Zentropa Entertainments, with NENT Group and DR as co-producers.
The Kingdom Exodus will be having its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and will be reaching the Mubi service this fall, streaming on a weekly episodic basis.
Mubi founder and CEO Efe Cakarel had this to say about the acquisition:
Mubi is now home to The Kingdom – an incredible show, and the first television series released by Mubi. Ever. We want to bring more great artistic visions to as many people as possible – whether that’s through film or series. The Kingdom is the perfect first show to introduce episodic storytelling to Mubi and marks one of our biggest steps forward as a company.”
Back in 2004, The Kingdom received a U.S. remake called Kingdom Hospital, which was headed up by Stephen King. King was provided with the scripts that were written for the unproduced third mini-series, but it’s not known if he actually worked ideas from those scripts into Kingdom Hospital.
Are you a fan of The Kingdom, and are you looking forward to The Kingdom Exodus? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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