WE ARE METAL DRAGON HITS SWEDISH CINEMAS TODAY

The Swedish rock comedy We Are Metal Dragon opens today, September 25, before expanding to cinemas across Sweden on Monday. I composed the film’s underscore and after a rather extraordinary journey, Metal Dragon is finally heading for the big screen.

Today marks the theatrical release of We Are Metal Dragon (Vi är Metal Dragon), a Swedish independent feature written and directed by Titus Paar.

For me, it also marks the end of one part of creative journey. I composed the underscore for the film, working alongside a project where music was never simply something added at the end. It has been part of the film’s identity from the beginning.

And somewhere along the way, the fictional band at the centre of the story started becoming surprisingly real.

From a garage band to the big screen

We Are Metal Dragon follows a heavy metal band formed in the 1980s with one great ambition: to become the next Iron Maiden.

Forty years later, they are still rehearsing in the same garage.

Realising that their dreams of rock stardom may finally be running out of time, the four friends decide to embark on their first and possibly last tour.

The members of Metal Dragon are played by lead actor Andreas Ryllander as Rulle the Dragon Warden, supporting actors Urban Bergsten as City Cool, Mattias Silvell as guitarist Leffe and director Titus Paar himself as drummer Drägg.

But one of the most unusual things about the project is that Metal Dragon did not remain confined to the screenplay.

The fictional band became a real band

During the long road towards the film’s release, Metal Dragon began performing for actual audiences.

The band has appeared live at Swedish rock festivals including Time To Rock and Skogsröjet, with Ryllander taking on lead vocals on stage. Parts of the movie were even filmed in front of the festival audience at Skogsröjet.

There is now Metal Dragon merchandise, music and even an official Metal Dragon beer available through Systembolaget.

In other words, the line between the fictional band and the real one has become increasingly blurred.

That makes the release particularly interesting. Instead of finishing a film and then beginning to search for an audience, We Are Metal Dragon has spent years allowing its characters, music and world to exist outside the film itself.

Music at the centre

Music is naturally a major part of a film about four ageing metal musicians refusing to give up on the dream.

The Metal Dragon songs were written by Jake E, Christoffer Borg and Felix Borg, while I composed the film’s original underscore.

That distinction is important. The songs belong to Metal Dragon, the band we see and hear performing. My job was to create the musical world surrounding the story: supporting its comedy, friendship, melancholy, absurdity and the surprisingly emotional journey underneath all the hairspray, guitars and heavy metal bravado.

Scoring a film like this means finding the music behind the music.

An unusual Swedish independent production

The film has been produced on a budget of approximately SEK 15 million without production funding from the Swedish Film Institute.

It was produced by Paar Productions, Phelecan Films and Norrköpings Filmfond, with Norrköping and the surrounding region playing an important role both financially and as a filming location.

The cast also brings together an unusually eclectic group of Swedish actors, performers and music personalities, including Inger Nilsson, Agneta Sjödin, Dragomir Mrsic, Vilhelm Blomgren, Hasse Brontén, Mikkey Dee, Nordman and Joacim Cans.

Mixing

The film has already encountered audiences through a series of previews. According to the production, three preview screenings in Norrköping sold out in approximately one hour, while several other advance screenings have also played to sold-out audiences.

And Metal Dragon has already been travelling around Sweden meeting the very audience the film was made for.

Now comes the real test.

We Are Metal Dragon opens in Swedish cinemas today, September 25, with the theatrical release expanding more broadly across Sweden from Monday, September 28.

After years in garages, on sets, in recording studios, mixing rooms, festival fields and packed preview screenings, the Dragon is finally loose. I attended the gala premier at Nordisk Film Bio in Uppsala and the audience loved it.

See you at the cinema.

WE ARE METAL DRAGON / VI ÄR METAL DRAGON

Written and directed by Titus Paar

Original underscore by Simon Kölle

Songs by Jake E, Christoffer Borg and Felix Borg

Produced by Paar Productions, Phelecan Films and Norrköpings FilmfondSwedish theatrical release: September 25, 2026

Wide expansion: September 28, 2026