A Danish filmmaker and screenwriter, Nikolaj Arcel is best known for directing the 2012 film A Royal Affair, which won two prizes at the Berlin International Film Festival and also won a nomination at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. Arcel who made his feature film directorial debut with the King's Game (2004), and he immediately gained wide fame as he won the Best Director Award at the Danish Film Academy Awards. After the success of his debut film, he subsequently directed Island of Lost Souls (2007), A Royal Affair (2012), and The Dark Tower (2017), an American science fiction western action horror film starring Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor and Claudia Kim.