With the acquisition of MAGNUS Scandinavia´s largest sales agent TrustNordisk has picked up yet another exciting and captivating piece of brilliant storytelling. This time it is a true one.
“Some stories are just mind-blowing and fascinating in a very special way. MAGNUS is that kind of story and has a great universal potential. We believe it will have success both distribution wise and in festival circles”.
Rikke Ennis, CEO, TrustNordisk
In 2004 when Magnus Carlsen was 13 years old and bullied by his classmates for his sole interest in playing and reading about chess, he made a decision: By the year 2020 he would become the World Chess Champion.
In 2013 Magnus, aged 22, became the World Chess Champion and the highest ranked player of all time in chess history. He modelled for G-Star Raw with Liv Tyler and ended up on Cosmopolitan´s list of the sexiest men alive. To top it all, Time Magazine named him one of the most influential persons alive.
The filmmakers have followed one of the world´s most intelligent people for ten years, and achieved over 500 hours of footage. The coming of age story unfolds as we follow the prodigy battling his way through the ranks of chess, with personal sacrifices, special friendships, modeling jobs and a caring family. MAGNUS is a character driven drama that is bound to engage the non-chess players, as well as the over 600 million people who play chess all over the world.
Director Benjamin Ree explains:
“Chess is the touchstone of intellect, the ultimate battle of the minds. No one understands how Magnus Carlsen has become so good - not even himself! He has studied the game in a completely different way than all the greatest chess players in history. He has been driven by playfulness and curiosity, rather than discipline and structure. That´s why he is known as “The Mozart of Chess”.
MAGNUS is directed by Benjamin Ree who studied journalism at the University College in Oslo. Benjamin Ree has directed several documentaries for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and worked as a producer for Reuters TV covering news events for BBC, Sky News and CNN. MAGNUS is his first feature length film.
MAGNUS is produced by Sigurd Mikal Karoliussen (ELLING, 2001, UNO, 2004, THE JOURNEY TO THE CHRISTMAS STAR, 2012) for Moskus Film and co-produced by VGTV, Main Island Production and Nordisk Film Production. The film is supported by NRK, DR, SVT, VGTV and edited by Perry Eriksen (THE LION WOMAN, 2015, THE JOURNEY TO THE CHRISTMAS STAR, 2012, KON-TIKI, 2012) and Martin Stoltz (WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY, 2016, DEAD SNOW, 2014, KON-TIKI, 2012). Score by Uno Helmersson (BRON, 2011, ARMADILLO, 2010, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, 2008) who has composed and contributed to more than 40 films.
Nordic distribution through Nordisk Film Distribution.
TrustNordisk handles international sales.