The director of the 2011 movie Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn, is reportedly bringing his next project to Netflix. The long-teased Copenhagen Cowboy will finally make its way to Netflix in December 2022. We’re keeping track of everything you need to know about Copenhagen Cowboy, including the plot, cast, trailer, and potential Netflix release date.
Nicolas Winding Refn had teased the project for quite some time, but very little concrete detail was known. Over the course of 2022, we’ve learned a lot more information about the series. Described as a Noir Thriller, Copenhagen Cowboy is a Danish Netflix Original series.
Listed as producer on the project is Danish film producer Lene Børglum who has teamed with Nicolas Winding Refn on numerous projects, including Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon.
Pictured; Nicolas Winding Refn – David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock
Magnus Nordenhof Jønck is attached as director of photography on the new series. He’s known for projects such as Bridgend, Nordvest, and Key House Mirror.
Space Rocket Nation serves as the production company behind the series project who was established in 2008 by Børglum and Refn. They state they aim “to produce highly artistic and edgy feature films for an international audience”.
As The Playlist notes, Refn is considered a controversial filmmaker “who likes to push buttons and sometimes seems a little bit tone-deaf about current cultural shifts.” In 2011, The Guardian posted an interview where the director said “Film-making is a fetish”.
Director Refn had the following to say about the project:
“With Copenhagen Cowboy, I am returning to my past to shape my future by creating a series, an expansion of my constantly evolving alter-egos, now in the form of my young heroine, Miu. Collaborating with Netflix and bringing this show to life has been an absolutely wonderful experience on all levels. I not only perceive them as my partners with many future adventures to come, but also as my friends. The new term has been born: Netflix Winding Refn.”
When is the Copenhagen Cowboy Netflix release date?
Netflix announced in November 2022 that the show will officially drop on Netflix on January 5th, 2023.
We were originally told us that Copenhagen Cowboy was eying a December 2022 release date and it was later delayed to January 2023.
What is the plot of Copenhagen Cowboy?
The synopsis for Copenhagen Cowboy has been sourced from Netflix:
“Follows enigmatic young heroine, Miu. After a lifetime of servitude and on the verge of a new beginning, she traverses the ominous landscape of Copenhagen’s criminal netherworld. Searching for justice and enacting vengeance, she encounters her nemesis, Rakel, as they embark on an odyssey through the natural and the supernatural. The past ultimately transforms and defines their future, as the two women discover they are not alone, they are many.”
Copenhagen Cowboy – Picture. NWR Film Productions | Space Rocket Nation
Who are the cast members of Copenhagen Cowboy?
We have confirmation on the full cast of Copenhagen Cowboy. However, not all of the names of the roles have been revealed;
- Angela Bundalovic as Miu
- Fleur Frilund as Jessica
- Lola Corfixen
- Andreas Lykke Jørgensen
- Jason Hendil-Forssell
- Li Ii Zhang
- Dragana Milutinovic
- Mikael Bertelsen
- Mads Brügger
- Ramadan Huseini
- Andreas Lykke Jørgensen
- Per Thiim Thim
What was the production history of Copenhagen Cowboy?
An Instagram page teasing the upcoming project began posting back in September 2021. Two posts containing pigs have been posted, including one posted a few days before the PETA complaint.
cphcwby – Picture: Instagram
In addition, ProductionWeekly reported the project has begun filming in Copenhagen.
Nicolas Winding Refn was confirmed to be helming the new series with his daughter LizzieLou Winding Refn set to star.
Nicolas Winding Refn is perhaps best known for his directing of Hollywood movies including two Ryan Gosling entries including the beloved 2011 movie Drive and Only God Forgives. Other movies in the director’s library include The Neon Demon, Pusher, Bronson, and Valhalla Rising.
Nicolas publicly posted about Copenhagen Cowboy on December 28th, 2021.
https://twitter.com/NicolasWR/status/1475950953706655750
Multiple Twitter posts from Nicolas Winding Refn showed snippets of information for the filming of Copenhagen Cowboy. A tweet on April 1st, 2022 confirmed that filming had wrapped on the project.
https://twitter.com/NicolasWR/status/1509989041109938180
What is the episode count?
It has been confirmed that the series will have six episodes, each with a runtime of approximately 60 minutes.
Copenhagen Cowboy – Picture. NWR Film Productions | Space Rocket Nation
Animal Rights Controversy
As first reported by ThePlaylist.net (the live link doesn’t work so we’ve included an Archive.org link in the meantime) the project was seemingly outed by a PETA complaint about the project. PETA released a complaint in early December 2021 that notes that the upcoming Danish series would be heading to Netflix. They talk about the project because the animal rights group alleges that the production killed a pig on set.
They sent an open letter to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings asking for the scene to be cut.
In the press release, they state, “Killing a sentient being and exploiting that death for the sake of entertainment is unacceptable and may be illegal,” adding, “No animal should suffer or die for human entertainment, and PETA is calling on Netflix to leave on the cutting room floor any footage that might glorify this pig’s needless, senseless slaughter.”
Copenhagen Cowboy – Picture. NWR Film Productions | Space Rocket Nation
Are you looking forward to the new project from Nicolas Winding Refn coming to Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
