28/08/2024 - The project, currently in production and being staged by Zentropa, promises to be a humorous, intriguing and devious tale about identity

Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and (standing) Anders Thomas Jensen on the set of Back to Reality (© Anders Overgaard)

Danish writer-director Anders Thomas Jensen is now working on his new feature, a dark comedy titled Back to Reality. The project, toplined by Mads Mikkelsen (The Promised Land [+see also:
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film profile], Riders of Justice [+see also:
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interview: Anders Thomas Jensen
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interview: Hubert Toint and Mark Denes…
series profile], Riders of Justice), entered production on 19 August in Funen, Denmark (with filming set to move to Sweden later on). Both actors have starred in all of Jensen’s previous features. The news was first reported by Screen International.

Previously, Jensen has penned over 30 features. One of his recent projects was co-writing Nikolaj Arcel’s Golden Lion contender The Promised Land (2023), a period drama shortlisted for the 2024 Oscars. Jensen’s work as a screenwriter has also involved multiple partnerships with Susanne Bier, notably writing In a Better World [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2010), which picked up a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. His most recent hit as a writer-director, 2020’s Riders of Justice, opened IFFR and sold a record-breaking 150,000 admissions on its opening weekend during its local release in Denmark. It became his biggest theatrical success to date in Denmark, with over 600,000 admissions sold, and the movie sold to more than 50 territories internationally.

Billed as “a humorous, intriguing and devious tale about identity”, the story of Jensen’s latest endeavour follows Anker, who is released from prison after a 14-year sentence for robbery. Anker’s brother, Manfred, is the only one who knows where the money from the heist is. Meanwhile, Manfred has developed a mental illness, causing him to forget where the loot is stashed. Together, the brothers now embark on an unexpected journey to both locate the money and discover who they really are.

The main cast is rounded off by Lars Brygmann (Riders of Justice), Sofie Gråbøl (Prisoner [+see also:
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interview: Lars von Trier
film profile]), Bodil Jørgensen (The Kingdom Exodus), Søren Malling (The Promised Land), Kardo Razzazi (The Abyss, Border [+see also:
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interview: Ali Abbasi
film profile]) and Nicolas Bro (Riders of Justice).

Back to Reality is being produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen and Sidsel Hybschmann for Zentropa Entertaiments (Denmark) in co-production with Film i Väst (Sweden) and Lizette Jonijc for Zentropa Sweden, with backing from the Danish Film Institute, FilmFyn, the Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, the Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the European Union’s Creative Europe – MEDIA programme, in collaboration with Nordisk Film Distribution and TV2. TrustNordisk is in charge of its worldwide rights, and has pre-sold it to Germany, Austria and Switzerland (via Neue Visionen and Splendid) as well as the Benelux (via September Film).

Budgeted at €7.8 million, the picture’s local release is slated for autumn 2025.