In the six years since his breakout role in Inglourious Basterds, Michael Fassbender has played a robot, a mutant, a pop star, a couple of geniuses and even The Dude. Yet there's one profession that he hasn't taken on – one that many a talented actor before him have taken on with great ease. If the talks surrounding his possible involvement in the delayed big-screen adaptation of Jo Nesbo's novel The Snowman have to say anything about it, we'll be seeing Fassbender in the role of a methodical detective before too long.
The Hollywood Reporter scooped the news that Fassbender is in early talks to star as Nesbo's signature detective – Harry Hole – in the film version of his seventh literary adventure. The Snowman sets Hole up with a missing person's case, as the disappearance of a mother in Norway leads to what might possibly be the trail of a serial killer. Tomas Alfredson, he of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy fame, is the attached director – with Universal being the distributor.
Not only is this good news for The Snowman, which was originally slated to be a Martin Scorsese film before he eventually dropped out, it's also good news for Michael Fassbender. The good part about this news is that if the actor signs on, and The Snowman gets underway as planned, then Fassbender will have his new franchise to work on while taking a break in between more serious films like Steve Jobs. This is, of course, if Assassin's Creed doesn't plan to use Fassbender in a recurring manner through any planned sequels.
This isn't the first Jo Nesbo novel to be adapted for the screen, as Morten Tyldum honed the skills he'd bring to The Imitation Game by directing a Swedish language version of Nesbo's Headhunters in 2011. That same film helped a relatively unknown actor by the name of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau make himself known to the world by playing the film's central art thief – long before he even donned the colors of a Lannister. While he's certainly a well-known name in his own right at this point, Michael Fassbender could enjoy a healthy bump in visibility if The Snowman plays its cards right.
While a lot of particulars haven't been released to the public, it's only a matter of time before Universal announces the details as it makes its latest move to corner the adult literary market. With Tomas Alfredson and Michael Fassbender's cooperation, The Snowman could be the studio's answer to The Hunger Games or Jack Reacher, with more books to be optioned and produced as far as the eye can see. In the meantime, if you're a Fassbender fan waiting for your next dose, you can see him in Steve Jobs, which opens on October 9.
