Jennifer Lawrence to Play the Last Woman Publicly Executed in Iceland
Jennifer Lawrence is about to be beheaded.
According to Variety, Lawrence will produce and star in the true-crime drama "Burial Rites," helmed by "Call Me by Your Name" director Luca Guadagnino.
Lawrence will play Agnes Magnusdottir, a maid/farmhand sentenced to death for killing two men and setting fire to their home. She was the last woman publicly executed in Iceland, and they've since abolished capital punishment. The other person beheaded with her was a Fridrik Sigurdsson, 17. Another maid Sigridur Gudmundsdottir, 16, was reportedly sentenced to life in prison in Denmark.
Variety said "Burial Rites" will draw on Hannah Kent's 2013 novel of that name, taking place as "Agnes awaits confirmation of her death sentence by the high court, a period of time that finds her reluctantly forging emotional and romantic bonds, while reflecting on her supposed crimes."
There are shades of Margaret Atwood's "Alias Grace," which was recently adapted by Netflix.
The Associated Press did a recent story on the crimes, saying an axe was imported from Denmark to carry out the beheadings, and the brother of one of the victims was chosen as executioner. "Every farm was instructed to send a male representative to witness the event and afterward the decapitated heads were jammed onto a stick for public viewing." Yikes. Full Ned Stark.
Before "Burial Rites" comes out, Lawrence will be promoting the releases of "Red Sparrow" (opening March 2, 2018) and "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (November 2, 2018).
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