Bruno Ganz has also joined the film, which was initially conceived as a television series.
Matt Dillon and Bruno Ganz will star in The House That Jack Built.
Lars von Trier is directing the drama, which follows the titular serial killer who has spent over a decade aspiring to the art of the perfect murder. As the inevitable police intervention is drawing nearer, he is taking greater and greater risks in his attempt to create the ultimate artwork.
Originally planned as a TV series, the movie will be shot from the perspective of Jack, played by Dillon. It will be set in the 1970s and 1980s, before DNA evidence was used in murder cases.
Esteemed Swiss actor Ganz will play the mysterious Verge, who engages Jack in a recurring conversation about his actions and thoughts.
Additional cast, including four prominent female roles, will be announced at a later date. Shootings will take place in Trollhattan, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark.
"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," said the director in a statement. "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 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. TrustNordisk is handling international sales at AFM.
Dillon is seen next in Zach Braff's crime comedy Going in Style. He is repped by UTA, Untitled Entertainment and Wendy Heller Law.
Ganz's upcoming projects include Terrence Malick's war pic Radegund, Sally Potter's dramedy The Party, the action drama The Witness and the film In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts. He is repped by Baumbauer Actors.