TrustNordisk has acquired the international sales rights of the upcoming comedy BACK TO REALITY (working title), written and directed by acclaimed screenwriter/director Anders Thomas Jensen (RIDERS OF JUSTICE, 2020), and produced by Zentropa.
Copenhagen, 19 May 2023 – We are excited to announce that we have acquired the sales rights to Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director, Anders Thomas Jensen's upcoming feature BACK TO REALITY (working title). Zentropa is producing the film, which is now in the final financing phase.
If you say Danish comedy, you also have to say Anders Thomas Jensen. As a director and screenwriter, Jensen is the creator of several of the absolute best and most quoted Danish comedy films since the 2000s (FLICKERING LIGHTS, 2000; ADAM'S APPLES, 2005; THE GREEN BUTCHERS, 2003), among others. His latest film RIDERS OF JUSTICE (2020) an action comedy, was in high demand among international buyers and proved successful in and beyond the local market.
Anders Thomas Jensen is a pioneer in Danish Cinema, having written more than 30 feature films in a wide variety of genres, including his most recent work as co-writer on Nikolaj Arcel's upcoming and highly anticipated historical drama THE BASTARD.
Jensen's previous work as a screenwriter includes numerous collaborations with director Susanne Bier, he wrote Bier's Golden Globe - and Academy Award-winner IN A BETTER WORLD (2010) as well as Lone Scherfig and Niels Arden Oplev, among others.
BACK TO REALITY (working title)
Anders Thomas Jensen’s portfolio is characterized by dark humor, unique storytelling and a peculiar wondrous universe. BACK TO REALITY (working title) will be a return to the genre, that he masters so well and with an absurd story, only he can narrate:
Fresh out of jail bank robber Anker is on his way to collect the loot. The only one who knows where the money is buried is his traumatized brother, Manfred, who has meanwhile fled into an alter ego, and now knows nothing about the money. Hoping to unlock Manfred’s memory, the brothers travel to their childhood home and start digging.
Managing Director of TrustNordisk, Susan Wendt, comments on the acquisition:
'We're beyond excited to be working with Anders Thomas Jensen again! The success that came with RIDERS OF JUSTICE tells us that the international audience appreciate his films just as much as we do in Denmark. We were already blown away after reading the early script for BACK TO REALITY (working title) and have high expectations for the film.'
No cast has been confirmed. TrustNordisk has boarded the project in an early phase based on the script and confidence that Anders Thomas Jensen and Zentropa will once again deliver a film unlike any other.
BACK TO REALITY (working title) is written by Anders Thomas Jensen and will be directed by Anders Thomas Jensen and produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen and Sidsel Hybschmann for Zentropa in co-production with Film i Väst and Zentropa Sweden/Lizette Jonjic with support from The Danish Film Institute, FilmFyn and TV 2 and developed with the support of The Creative Europe Media Programme of the European Union. Local distribution by Nordisk Film Distribution and international sales by TrustNordisk.
BACK TO REALITY (working title) is now in pre-production and in the final financing phase.
More information about the film here