EXCLUSIVE: Matt Dillon will play a serial killer in The House That Jack Built, the next feature film by director Lars von Trier. Dillon will star with Bruno Ganz, the first castmembers that the filmmaker has divulged as he puts together the picture. Ganz will take on the role of a mysterious figure named Verge, who engages Jack in a recurring conversation about his actions and thoughts.

Said Von Trier: “It’s with great pleasure that we have succeeded in being able to present Matt Dillon and Bruno Ganz as the lead actors in The House That Jack Built. The two gentlemen have each figured as milestones in my cinematic development. Besides being an epochal match, they are excellent actors and fit quite organically into “my cinematic family.” I look forward with pleasure and pride to working with them both.”

The House That Jack Built follows the highly intelligent Jack over a span of 12 years and introduces the murders that define Jack’s development as a serial killer. We experience the story from Jack’s point of view, while he postulates each murder is an artwork in itself. As the inevitable police intervention is drawing nearer, he is taking greater and greater risks in his attempt to create the ultimate artwork. Additional cast, including 4 prominent female roles, is to be set soon. Shooting will take place in Trollhättan, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark.

The House That Jack Built is produced by Zentropa Group in co-production with Film i Väst, Copenhagen Film Fund, Slot Machine, with support from Danish Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, CNC, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Eurimages, The Media Programme of the European Union, and in cooperation with DR, Nordisk Film Distribution, Concorde, Potemkine, Les Films du Losange, SVT. International sales by TrustNordisk.

This adds another layer to a long list of Dillon performance ranging from protagonists to villains — sometimes combining those qualities in the same role — since he first broke through in The Outsiders, and in films from There’s Something About Mary, his Oscar-nominated turn in Crash, and Drugstore Cowboy, the latter of which won him the IFP Spirit Award.

Ganz, a star of German language films and TV, had his big breakthrough in 1976’s Sommergäste and has worked with such directors as Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders and Francis Ford Coppola, and is best known for Wings of Desire, Pane e tulipani and for his acclaimed portrayal of Adolf Hitler in Downfall (Der Untergang). At the 2010 European Film Awards, Ganz received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dillon is repped by UTA and Untitled, Ganz by Bambauer Actors.

Uma Thurman is re-teaming with Lars von Trier for his upcoming thriller The House That Jack Built.

The actress, who first worked with the Danish director on his last feature, Nymphomaniac, joins Siobhan Fallon Hogan (von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, Dogville) among the ranks of unfortunate women who encounter serial killer Jack, played by Matt Dillon. Riley Keough, Sofie Grabol and Bruno Ganz also star.

"With these two fantastic actresses, the main cast is now in place, and we are ready to shoot – and kill," said Zentropa producer Louise Vesth. "Uma and Lars first worked together on Nymphomaniac and complemented each other in an exceptional way; I can't wait to see which character they'll create together this time. Lars has had Siobhan in mind from a very early stage for one of the female parts, and it is an honor for us to welcome her back on set since her appearance in Dogville and Dancer in the Dark."

Zentropa will begin shooting The House That Jack Built in Trollhattan, Sweden, in March and move on to Copenhagen in May.

Set in the U.S. in the 1970s, the story follows Jack as he moves through five incidents and murders that define his development as a serial killer. He views each murder as an artwork in itself, though his dysfunction gives him problems in the outside world. Despite the fact that the final and inevitable police intervention is drawing ever nearer (which both provokes and puts pressure on Jack), he is – contrary to all logic – set on taking greater and greater chances.

The House That Jack Built is produced by Vesth for Zentropa Group in co-production with Film i Vast, Copenhagen Film Fund and Slot Machine, with support from the Danish Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, CNC, Film und Medienstiftung NRW, Eurimages, and the Media Programme of the European Union, in cooperation with DR, Nordisk Film Distribution, Concorde Filmverleih, Potemkine, Les Films du Losange, SVT.

TrustNordisk, which is overseeing international sales, has already pre-sold the film to numerous territories, including the U.K. and Ireland (Curzon Artificial Eye), Germany, Austria (Tele München), France (Films Du Losanges), Latin America (California Filmes), Benelux (September film), Greece (Seven Films), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes), Israel (Shani Film), Middle East (Falcon Films), China (DD Dream), Hong Kong (Sundream), South Korea (Atnine Film), Russia/CIS (Russian World Vision), Poland (Gutek), Hungary (Vertigo Media), Taiwan (Moviecloud), Former Yugoslavia (Cinemania group), Czech Republic (Aero film), Bulgaria (Euro Films), Romania (Independenta Film 97) and Baltic States (Estin Film).