Buyers across Europe and Latin America have boarded the upcoming Norwegian disaster film from director John Andreas Andersen.
Buyers across Europe and Latin America have boarded the upcoming Norwegian disaster film The North Sea, from director John Andreas Andersen.
On the first day of Berlin's all-virtual European Film Market (EFM), Scandinavian sales outfit TrustNordisk racked up a slew of pre-sales for the film, closing deals for German-speaking territories (Koch Films), for France (Mediawan), Benelux (Just Licensing), Italy (Minerva Pictures Group), Spain (Mediaset Espana), Russia and the Baltics (VLG.FILM), and Latin America (California Filmes).
TrustNordisk closed the deals off the film's script and a teaser trailer it screened for EFM buyers. The North Sea comes from Norwegian production house Fantefilm Fiksjon, producers of crossover Scandi disaster movies The Quake (2018) and The Wave (2015). The writer of both those films, Harald Rosenlow Eeg, co-wrote the screenplay for The North Sea with Lars Gudmestad, the screenwriter of 2011 Norwegian thriller Headhunters.
Both The Wave and The Quake were huge local hits and sold worldwide, with Magnolia Pictures taking both for the U.S..
The North Sea is set on an oil drilling platform and against the backdrop of 50 years of offshore drilling by the Norwegian government, which relies on oil for most of the country's wealth. The film stars Kristine Kujath Thorp, Rolf Kristian Larsen Anders Baasmo, Bjorn Floberg, and Anneke von der Lippe.
Budgeted at $7.9 million (€6.5 million), The North Sea is currently in post-production and is set for a fall release in Norway through Nordisk Film.
Martin Sundland, Catrin Gundersen, and Therese Bohn from Fantefilm Fiksjon produced The North Sea with production support from Norwegian Film Institute.
"We are excited with the great start and are certain that there will be more to come on a disaster film even more spectacular than the two previous films from the same creators," said TrustNordisk managing director Susan Wendt about the early sales of the film.