Hollywood has absorbed a wave of directors from Britain, and welcomed genre auteurs from Spain and Mexico. But perhaps no foreign influx in recent years is coming as fast and as furious as the Scandinavian invasion.

Most filmgoers are familiar with the influence of the Millennium Trilogy -- the three Swedish-language films based on Stieg Larsson's books, as well as David Fincher's upcoming remake of the first movie, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo." Turns out it's only the beginning. As we explore in a print article in Tuesday's Times, a group of film types on both sides of the Atlantic are bringing actors, directors and, of course, remakes to these shores.

Monday night, we caught up with a monster mockumentary called "The Troll Hunter" from a Norwegian up-and-comer named Andre Ovredal that's essentially "The Blair Witch Project" meets "Men in Black" meets "The Host." (Really.) After a successful run at Fantastic Fest, the movie is set to come out in the U.S. next year. Universal owns remake rights, so don't be surprised if that happens too.

Meanwhile, Hollywood powerhouses such as United Talent Agency have signed nearly the entire cast of movies such as the Swedish crime drama "Snabba Cash," as well as the film's director, and deployed them in a host of big American movies. (The film's director, Daniel Espinosa, is directing the Denzel Washington thriller "Safe House.") "Snabba" itself will be released stateside next year and is getting remade by Warner Bros. with Zac Efron playing the title character (an ordinary 20-something who leads a double life as a cocaine runner).

Meanwhile, John Ajvide Lindqvist, the author of the novel on which vampire hit "Let the Right One In" was based (itself remade as the Chloe Moretz movie "Let Me In"), has another book; this one is about zombies and is called "Handling the Undead." The rights will soon be shopped to U.S. studios.

And when it comes to actors, there's the queen of the Swedish invasion -- Noomi Rapace, the original girl with the dragon tattoo. She's in "Sherlock Holmes 2" and is being mentioned for seemingly every other big role in Hollywood.

All this is happening because Hollywood is looking for new places to mine talent -- but also because there's a feeling that, if remakes are going to happen, they may as well be sourced from a place with some filmmaking chops. That Scandinavia has its wealth of English-speaking actors and directors -- and a dark sensibility that Americans are coming around to -- doesn't hurt either. Bring a surfboard: This wave could be here for a while.

-- Steven Zeitchik
twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

Photo: A scene from "The Troll Hunter." Credit: Magnolia Pictures

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EXCLUSIVE: Two of the hotter Hollywood stories of 2010, at least on the creative side, are coming together.

"Snabba Cash," the Zac Efron-starring remake of the Swedish crime drama that we told you about last March, is getting a writer with some significant buzz of his own. The scribe in question: Noah Oppenheim, who's coming on to write the script for the Warner Bros. film project.

Oppenheim is the former producer of "Today" who received Steven Spielberg's seal of approval when the A-lister expressed interest in producing Oppenheim's original story about Jackie Kennedy and her life in the days after the JFK assassination.

Rachel Weisz is now attached to star and Darren Aronofsky to direct that first lady tale, "Jackie," which should give Oppenheim plenty of heat on his own.

The addition of a writer to the English-language "Snabba Cash" is good news for fans of Daniel Espinosa's original, as well as devotees of arty Swedish genre tales (and thanks to "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," there are plenty). But mostly it's good news for anyone who wants to see Efron play a coke runner, because it means we're now one step closer to that once-impossible dream.

— Steven Zeitchik

twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

Photo: Zac Efron at the Australian premiere of 'Charlie St. Cloud.' Credit: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images.

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EXCLUSIVE:  One of the hottest scripts in Hollywood right now is "Safe House," which as we told you about back in February is one of the few priority films at a studio that's not a remake or brand adaptation, thank the heavens. It's a movie from a young writer named David Guggenheim about a U.S. intelligence agent and his prisoner, who are forced to seek refuge in safe houses across South America -- a kind of "Bourne Identity" by way of "Collateral."

Now Universal and producer Scott Stuber are closing in on a director to bring Guggenheim's vision to the screen. Three filmmakers are among the finalists --  "Buried" director Rodridgo Cortes, "The "Losers" director Sylvain White and Daniel Espinosa, the Swedish auteur who created a stir with his noir "Snabba Cash." Espinosa, we're told, is poised to get the gig, as the parties are set to try to hammer out a deal.

Espinosa was signed by Hollywood managers and agents after his film drummed up interest at the Berlin Film Festival (the remake rights were subsequently picked up by Warner Bros. as a Zac Efron producing/starring vehicle). The Swedish director seems like a perfect choice, if only because a dark but accessible vision, as he flashed in "Snabba," is exactly what material like "Safe House" needs if Hollywood is going to create some new franchises instead of dining out endlessly on the old ones.

But the larger story here is how producers are now willing to look outside -- both English-speaking countries and traditional channels -- for filmmakers who can direct their hot scripts, even the broadly commercial ones. You can try to get an old-timey A-lister, spend a lot of money and then find out he's not available when you're ready to shoot. Or you can bring in a fresh voice inexpensively and shoot as soon as you're ready.

-- Steven Zeitchik

(Follow me on Twitter.)

Photo: Poster for "Snabba Cash." Credit: Tre Vanner Productions.

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