08/03/2006

Peter Næss, the director of the popular Elling film franchise, is going to adapt the first novel by Norwegian best-selling novelist and screenwriter Erlend Loe for the big screen. The €2.2m budget film produced by Olav Øen for Monster Film was just awarded a €1m grant from the Norwegian Film Fund.

Tatt av kvinnen is the story of a young single man who embarks on a love story with a woman who rapidly invades his space and turns his life upside down. "Perhaps nothing really new compared to many films we’ve seen in the last few years, but the point of view is new and fresh", commented Torun Lian, Feature Film Consultant of the NFF, "and the quality of the film will be mostly in its humour".

Øen and Næss have been working on the idea of adapting this story, written by Loe in 1993, for several years. And just like with “Elling”, Tatt av kvinnen will follow the same creative journey from theatre stage to film under Næss’ supervision.

Scriptwriter Johan Bogeus, who previously collaborated with the director on his 2003 film Just Bea, has signed up for this new screen adaptation, which is scheduled to shoot September 5-October 20, 2006. The film is set to open in Norway through SF Norge in the autumn of 2007.

Meanwhile, Næss, whose last film Love Me Tomorrow, based on the Elling character, was the top domestic title at the Norwegian box office in 2005 (309,000 admissions), is busy preparing to film another project this spring, Hoppet (Hope). The Swedish/Norwegian co-production between Happy Zingo Production and Cinenord is the story of 12 year-old Azad of Kurdistani descent, who decides to flee to Sweden with his older brother the day their parents are arrested (see article).