Reinvent Yellow Sales has picked up international rights to Norwegian-Finnish disaster thriller The Man, which is currently in pre-production and will be introduced to buyers at the Marché du Film (12-20 May) during the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

The pic is penned and directed by Stig Svendsen, whose credits include Kings Bay and the Netflix thriller Viking Wolf (2022), and is being produced by Finn Gjerdrum and Torkild Ziegler for Norway's Paradox and Max Barkman for Finland's 255 Pix Studio. Paradox will handle the film in the Nordic territories, while Reinvent Yellow Sales will represent it internationally.

Set around an existing, closely monitored Norwegian mountain, The Man follows Regine and Askild, two researchers tracking signs of movement in the mountain known as “The Man”. When their instruments suddenly fail just as a violent storm is approaching, the pair climb up to investigate. In the darkness, they hear the mountain creaking, and something else: heavy footsteps and an inhuman roar. The situation escalates when they encounter Ståle, a man claiming his girlfriend has gone missing in the mountains. Askild sets off with him but doesn’t return. Left alone, Regine discovers blood and fresh bear tracks, and begins to realise that Ståle’s story doesn’t hold together. Trapped between an unstable mountain, a predator and a man she can’t trust, Regine is forced to fight for her survival.

The lead role will be played by Eili Harboe (known for Thelma and the upcoming series Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole). She’ll be joined by Stig Henrik Hoff (The Riot) and Vebjørn Enger (of the series Ragnarok and Welcome to Lapland).

According to the producers and sales team, the project combines disaster-movie mechanics with elements of psychological thriller and Nordic mythology. The mountain is conceived not only as a physical threat, but also as an entity - a force reflecting human destructiveness. As the story builds towards collapse, the storm, the bear, the unstable landscape and the human threat converge, shifting the drama from scientific control to raw survival instinct.

“I’m excited to be making this film because it brings together the raw force of nature with human decisions made under pressure,” Svendsen enthused. “Audiences can look forward to an intense, edge-of-your-seat experience where it’s not just about surviving the mountain but understanding what set it in motion in the first place.”

Helene Aurø, chief sales officer at Reinvent, added: “We’re very excited to be representing this film and collaborating with such a talented team. We believe the project has significant international potential, particularly within the genre, and we look forward to bringing it to audiences worldwide.”

The release date is yet to be confirmed.