While Ruben Östlund reached newfound acclaim thanks to a Palme d’Or win for The Square, it was his prior film, Force Majeure, in which he landed on our radars. A rigorously assured exploration of the responsibility found in marriage, it’s deeply funny and smartly observed, with performances that rely on acute gestures and movements to convey things some films take an entire runtime to explore. It was inevitable an American remake would be in the works and after an initial announcement back in 2015, things are finally moving forward.
With Julia Louis-Dreyfus still attached, Will Ferrell has come on board the Fox Searchlight production, which is now titled Downhill, Deadline reports. The Oscar-winning duo of Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (The Descendants, The Way, Way Back) will direct the film as scripted by Jesse Armstrong (Four Lions), which “will chart how a narrow avalanche escape during a ski vacation in the Alps throws a seemingly picture-perfect family into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate life, and how they truly feel about each other.”
“Obviously, Searchlight is like family at this point. We’re honored to be working with them for a third time. But, to also have our paths cross with Julia, and a fellow Groundling alum in Will, makes this all the more special and exciting for us,” said Faxon and Rash, while producer Anthony Bregman added, “Downhill is a tale of bad judgment and moral weakness, so how fitting that Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell embody those values. Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, of course, are more than qualified to capture the fallout.”
Ahead of a shoot beginning early next year in Austria, see the trailer for the original below.