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PRODUCTION Germany

Tykwer to make most expensive German film of all time

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Cloud Atlas, an adaptation of David Mitchell’s homonymous conceptual fantasy novel by Tom Tykwer and the US helmers of Matrix, Andy and Lana Wachowski, will cost about €100m, making it the most expensive German film ever made, as told by its producer Stefan Arndt, of X Filme, in the Berliner Morgenpost.

Of course, the project’s high cost should be put into perspective, says Arndt, insofar as the film, co-written by Tykwer and the Wachowski brothers, will also be co-directed by those three and will thus benefit from Tykwer’s professionalism and international experience and the guaranteed good relationship between the two brothers, who are pioneers in the field of computer-generated images. The producer hinted that the film’s three helmers could even have another surprise in store for the actors, including Oscar-winning stars Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon and Halle Berry, by announcing the arrival of a fourth director.

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The cast also includes Brit thesp Ben Whishaw (who played the lead role in Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), fellow Brit actor Jim Broadbent (who starred in Mike Leigh’s Another Year [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mike Leigh
film profile
]
), and Hugo Weaving (Matrix). But despite these numerous appearances by international actors, the film will be resolutely German.

"The Cloud Atlas project was launched abroad, it has made headway abroad, but it is produced here in Germany... (in co-production with US outfit Anarchos Pictures – editor’s note.). Everything stays here, and it’s not just been put together that way in order to get tax advantages and funding", insisted Arndt. In his opinion, the German industry has become so professional that this type of project is now possible, and X Filme has become good at handling this kind of set-up ever since Michael Haneke’s outstanding White Ribbon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Haneke
film profile
]
.

The epic Cloud Atlas will tell, in six different genres, six stories set in different eras, from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future, and in different places. The actors will play several roles. Shooting will start in September.

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(Translated from French)

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