Path Finder: Nispel's Viking Flop

0:00It's March 28th, you're listening to Entertainment and Celebrity News today, AI-powered pop-culture updates. I'm Corey with the story. Marcus Nispil, the guy behind the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, tried his hand at Pathfinder in 2007. It was a loose take on the 1987 Norwegian flick that scored an Oscar nod for Best Foreign Language Film. That original followed a teen survivor out for revenge against brutal raiders in Scandinavia around the year 1000. Nispil's version flipped it to a Viking kid, raised by a native tribe, fighting off invading Norsemen. Coming off his slasher success, Nispil hoped the remake would hit big, calling it his full concept in a magazine chat. Scripted by Leietta Kalogridis, it starred Carl Urban as the Warrior Ghost, with Moon Blood Good as his love interest. Urban even said filming was tougher than Lord of the Rings. At least by 20th Century Fox, it aimed high with a $45 million budget.

1:00Critics tore it apart, giving it just an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans and audiences stayed away too, as it pulled in only $31 million worldwide. The box office missed left Fox, holding the bag on a project that never found its footing. These days the film lingers as a what if flop, more ambitious swing than straight disaster like some call favorites. No big follow ups or revivals have popped up since. Pathfinder sits on Shells now via DVD or Blu-ray if you want to check the record yourself.