The Malaysian-made Hollywood movie 'Vikingdom' was never meant to cause any harm to the pre-Christian religion called Asatru, the film's director Yusry Abdul Halim says.

In a 20-minute long YouTube video which was posted by KRU Studios yesterday, Yusri admitted that the existence of the religion was not known to the makers when they made the movie.

NONE He also denied comparisons between Vikingdom and the controversial anti-Muslim film "Innocence of Muslims".

"The film ‘Innocence of Muslims' was done with the intent to insult. I don't hate the Asatru religion and did not intend to insult them," Yusry explained.

The criticism against 'Vikingdom' started with an open letter posted on the movie's Facebook page last week by a Norse mythology expert from the United States, Karl EH Seigfried.

Seigfried's criticism of the film for trampling on Viking beliefs, and portraying Thor, the god of thunder, in a bad light was picked up by the media over the past few days.

'Insult believers of the Old Way'

He said ‘Vikingdom' could insult the memory of many who were believers of the Old Way who were tortured into following new Christianity.

"It seems like your film is wholeheartedly accepting the darkest propaganda of the Christian missionaries and their allies who violently persecuted followers of the Old Way," Seigfried wrote in his open letter.

However, Yusry blamed much of the criticism on "misquotes" and "bad translation" by the Malaysian media reporting on the matter.

He claimed that the Seigfried has been responding to quotes attributed to him, which were mostly misquotes.

"The movie has not been released in the United States, so I doubt Mr Seigfried has watched the movie before making his comments," Yusry said in the video.

However, he said, the initial open letter sent to the filmmaker by Seigfried was written "politely" and he wished he had seen it earlier.

"I wish this letter got to me before things got out of hand. He has been misinformed by the Malaysian media," Yusry said.

He maintained that the movie was a work of fiction, as it had fantasy elements such as zombies and monsters, adding, "anybody who has watched the movie will clearly know it is a work of fiction."

Vikingdom, made on a budget of RM20 million, was released in Malaysian theatres on Sept  12 and is due to be released in United States on Oct 4.

The film's screenplay was written by US-based James Coyne, and stars Hollywood star Dominic Purcell in the lead role, along with Natassia Malthe.

It's Lisa vs Lisa over 'Vikingdom'