A four minute promo during Berlin Film Festival was enough for most of the great international distributors as Magnolia (USA), NFP (Germany), Momentum (UK/Canada), Lumier (Benelux) and Rialto Distribution (Australia), who all bought the rights for HEADHUNTERS, so expectations were grand when the film got its market premiere in Cannes. Here the sales succes continued and HEADHUNTERS was bought by Alta Film (Spain), Big Movie (Russia), Insomnia (Ex Yugoslavia), Mares Filmes (Brazil), Estin Film (Estonia), Independenta Film (Romania) and Aero Films (Czech Republic).
During the press conference in Cannes the American distributor, Tom Quinn from Magnolia said: ”My expectations were high when buying the film on a promo but I have to admit that the film was even better than the promo”
Sales agent Rikke Ennis from TrustNordisk says about the success: “I knew that Headhunters would be a success internationally but never had I expected such a rush in Cannes. This is no doubt one of the most best-selling Nordic films we have on the line-up in TrustNordisk this year. I am impressed with Morten Tyldum´s skills to adapt a best-selling novel on screen”
“The screenings in Cannes went absolutely fantastic and the response in the market has far exceeded our expectations. Ofcourse we knew that Jo Nesbø is a big author, also abroad, and the expectations for the film has been sky-high. We have worket with the best people in the Norwegian film industry and this proves that with the right people, and the right story, Norwegian film can be really big internationally as well”, says Asle Vatn from Friland Film AS.
Also commenting on the Cannes succes, producer Marianne Gray from Yellow Bird: ”We have had a very high level of ambition from the beginning and it shows in the result.”
Domestic release in Norway is August 26th.