13/10/2009

Icelandic star producer/filmmaker/actor Baltasar Kormákur will direct for London-based Working Title the US remake of Reykjavik-Rotterdam [+see also:
trailer
film profile], to star Mark Wahlberg.

The original Icelandic film, by Óskar Jónasson, is Iceland’s Oscar entry this year in the Foreign Language Film category. Kormákur, who starred in the film, produced it for his company Blueeyes Productions and therefore controls remake rights.

The story centres on a security guard who lost his previous job on a freight liner between Reykjavik and Rotterdam because of alcohol smuggling. Struggling with financial problems, he is convinced by a friend to pull off “one last job”. The US script will be written by hot new name Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners), and will most likely be set in a different environment, according to Kormákur.

The US film will be produced by Working Title with Hollywood-based Leverage Management. “At this stage, shooting will begin next spring,” said Kormákur to Cineuropa.

In the meantime, the prolific Icelandic producer/director has various projects in post-production, production or development in the US and in Iceland. His US thriller Inhale, starring Diane Kruger and Vincent Perez, will most likely be released in the US next February-March. Other territories will follow, with Splendid Films having bought the film for German-speaking Europe, and Mediapro for Eastern Europe.

Kormákur’s ambitious English-language project Viking, produced for Inhale’s US-based 26 Films, is in an active stage of development and a big part of the $60m film’s set has been built in Iceland. Shooting will probably start after the summer.

The 43-year-old director is also working on the Icelandic project Silence of the Grave, based on a best-selling book by Arnaldur Indridason. The previous collaboration between Kormákur and Iceland’s top crime novelist was the international hit Jar City [+see also:
trailer
film profile].