Swedish director Tomas Alfredson has earned acclaim for efforts like Let the Right One In and the Oscar-nominated Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, but his new film, The Snowman, is better off forgotten. The murder mystery from Universal Pictures opens in theaters Friday and has earned abysmal reviews from critics, with IndieWire slamming its laughable missteps in a C- review. The film currently has a 24% on Rotten Tomatoes after 24 reviews, and Alfredson is well aware his film is bombing with critics.
In an interview with NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Alfredson explained why the movie ended up being a misfire: Our shoot time in Norway was way too short, we didnt get the whole story with us and when we started cutting we discovered that a lot was missing.
By Alfredsons estimates, around 10-15% of the movies screenplay was not filmed during production. The Snowman was originally set to be directed by Martin Scorsese, but Alfredson took over and Scorsese stepped into an executive producing role. The film had been in development for awhile by the time Alfredson came on board and production was rushed once he was set as director. It happened very abruptly, he said. Suddenly we got notice that we had the money and could start the shoot in London.
Alfredson says that because 10-15% of the screenplay was not filmed, it left huge story gaps that needed to be filled in the editing room. Its like when youre making a big jigsaw puzzle and a few pieces are missing so you dont see the whole picture, he said.
