Tommy Wirkola

Tommy Wirkola
Born	(1979-12-06) 6 December 1979 (age 45) Alta, Norway
Education	Bond University
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, producer, actor

Tommy Wirkola (born 6 December 1979) ^[1] is a Norwegian film director, screenwriter, editor and producer. He is known for his film work in hybrid thrillers that combine horror, action and satire.

For his hybrid genre-focused work, he has won numerous awards and nominations. Dead Snow (2009) and Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014) were both selected by the Sundance Film Festival. ^[2] Dead Snow won the Toronto Dark Film Festival Audience Award and was nominated for four Scream Awards including Best Horror Film. Dead Snow 2 won him Best Film at the Horror Film Festival, Best Director at the International Fantastic Film Festival and Best Screenplay as well as Best Film at Alamo Drafthouse's Fantastic Festival in 2014. What Happened to Monday was nominated for Variety's Piazza Grande Award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2017. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) was nominated for the People's Choice Award for Best Horror Film. Violent Night (2022) was nominated for Most Outstanding Stunt Performance at the ACTRA Awards as well as for Best Original Score at the International Film Music Critics Awards and at the Reel Music Film Festival.

Career

Wirkola is of Sami-Finnish ancestry. ^[3]

His first film was 2007's Kill Buljo , which he co-wrote with Stig Frode Henriksen. ^[4] They later made the 2009 horror comedy Dead Snow . ^[5] In 2010 they again collaborated on the film Kurt Josef Wagle and the Legend of the Fjord Witch. ^[6] In 2012 a television series directed & produced by Wirkola called Hellfjord premiered, consisting of seven 30-minute episodes. ^[7] Wirkola's first English-language film, which was also his first large-budget film, was Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters . It was co-written by Dante Harper and released in 2013. ^[8] In 2014 a sequel to Dead Snow, named Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead , was released. ^{[9] [10]} What Happened to Monday , a science fiction film starring Noomi Rapace and Willem Dafoe, and The Trip , also starring Rapace, were released in 2017 and 2021 respectively. Wirkola's next film, Violent Night, was released in December 2022. ^[11]

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Editor
2006	Remake	Yes	No	No
2007	Kill Buljo	Yes	Yes	Yes
2009	Dead Snow	Yes	Yes	No
2010	Kurt Josef Wagle and the Legend of the Fjord Witch [12]	Yes	Yes	Yes
2013	Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters	Yes	Yes	No
2014	Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead	Yes	Yes	No
2017	What Happened to Monday	Yes	No	No
2021	The Trip	Yes	Yes	No
2022	Violent Night	Yes	No	No
2024	Spermageddon	Yes [a]	Yes	No
2026	Shiver	Yes	Yes	No

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role
2006	Remake	Attendant 2
2007	Kill Buljo	Sid Wisløff
2009	Dead Snow	Dying Zombie
	Tomme Tønner	Gjørme-Knut
2013	Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters	Deputy #4

Accolades

• Best Director: Won at the Fantasporto Film Festival in 2017 for What Happened to Monday recognizing his direction of this dystopian thriller.

• Best Screenplay: Won at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival in 2014 for Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead shared with co-writers for their work on this satiric horror sequel.

• Best Screenplay: Also won at the Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival in 2014 for Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead again shared, highlighting his writing contribution.

• Best Innovation: Nominated at the Kanonprisen in 2010 for Dead Snow acknowledging his innovative approach to this horror-comedy film.

Wirkola's personal awards, where he is directly recognized for his directorial or writing contributions, are as follows:

• Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) won him a nomination for the People's Choice Award for Best Horror Film.

• Best Director at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival for Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead in 2014.

• Best Screenplay at Alamo Drafthouse's Fantastic Fest in 2014, along with co-writers Geir Vegar Hoel and Stig Frode Henriksen, won for their screenplay.

• Audience Award for Best Film at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival for Dead Snow (2009).

Notes

1. Co-directed with Rasmus A. Sivertsen

References

1. "Nå hopper Wirkola av". DN.no. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
2. Fouché, Gwladys (2 February 2009). "Dead Snow cashes in on the vogue for film Nazis, with added snow". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 March 2025.
3. Kautto, Hanne (5 September 2012). "Pihla Viitalalla iso rooli Hollywood-leffassa". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 8 April 2024.
4. Kill Buljo – Dimension Extreme Archived 14 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
5. "DØD SNØ – crossingEurope". Crossingeurope.at. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
6. Juan of the Dead (26 February 2010). "The Director Of DEAD SNOW And KILL BULJO Takes The Piss Out Of First-Person Horror With KURT JOSEF WAGLE AND THE LEGEND OF THE FJORD WITCH". Twitchfilm.net. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
7. "Hellfjord". fantasticfest.com. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
8. New Scribe to Sweeten 'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters'
9. "Director Tommy Wirkola Talk HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS and DEAD SNOW". Collider. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
10. Kevin Melrose (12 February 2013). "Wirkola Plans Dead Snow Sequel « Spinoff Online – TV, Film, and Entertainment News Daily". Spinoff.comicbookresources.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
11. McCall, Kevin (14 September 2022). "David Harbour's Holiday Flick 'Violent Night' to Screen at NYCC". Collider. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
12. Ryan Turek (26 February 2010). "Dead Snow Director Returns With Fjord Witch". Shocktillyoudrop.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2014.

External links

• Tommy Wirkola at IMDb