Two Munich production companies are shooting major feature films in Bavaria with partners from Great Britain and France: MORNING with Laura Dern and Benedict Cumberbatch by director Justin Kurzel and writer Sam Steiner and RETURN TO SILENT HILL by writer and director Christophe Ganse with Jeremy Irvine. Munich-based VFX company Rise FX South is involved in the Hollywood series WISE GUY. FFF Bayern is funding the three projects within the framework of the International Theatrical Features and Series program with a total of 3.5 million euros. This was decided today by the sub-committee of the FFF funding allocation committee.
MORNING
2 million euros will go to the British-German co-production MORNING: In a near future where everyone has access to a pill that eliminates the need for sleep, Cathy and her son Danny come to terms with the loss of their husband and father Frank. The film stars Laura Dern, Benedict Cumberbatch, Noah Jupe and Naomi Ackie.
Writer Sam Steiner, who was named a "Star of Tomorrow" by Screen Daily, wrote the screenplay; the film will be directed by Justin Kurzel, who made his Cannes debut with his first short film, BLUE TONGUE (2005). His first feature film SNOWTOWN (2011) was invited to the Critics’ Week. Most recently, he directed MACBETH (2015, in Competition at the Festival de Cannes), ASSASSIN'S CREED (2016) and NITRAM (in Competition at the Festival de Cannes, award for Caleb Landry Jones as Best Actor). Cinematographer is Adam Arkapaw (TRUE DETECTIVE, among others), with Alice Babidge (BEAU IS AFRAID, among others) responsible for set and costume design.
On the British side, Benedict Cumberbatch, Leah Clarke and Adam Ackland are involved as producers with the company Sunny March, and on the German side, the Cologne-based Augenschein Filmproduktion and Munich-based Construction Film. Also among the partners is the production company Jaywalker Pictures. German producers are Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo and Veronica Ferres. Capelight Pictures is on board as the German distribution company. The world sales partner is London-based Hanway, which presented the project at the Marché du Film in Cannes in 2022 and sold it to international territories.
A good two-thirds of the filming will take place in Munich and the surrounding areas. FFF Bayern is funding the project within the framework of its International Theatrical Features and Series/Co-Productions program.
As the project is still in an early stage, there is no supervising press agency yet. For press inquiries please contact AUGENSCHEIN FILMPRODUKTION.
RETURN TO SILENT HILL
RETURN TO SILENT HILL is the remake of the adaptation of the cult video game Silent Hill. The film is directed and written by Christophe Gans, a graduate of the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (IDHEC). He built his reputation with the film adaptation of Kazuo Koike's manga hit CRYING FREEMAN as well as the international box office success BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF. His first film adaptation of SILENT HILL (2006) hit #1 on the U.S. box office charts and grossed over $100 million worldwide. He also directed BEAUTY AND THE BEAST for Pathé. Pablo Rosso is cinematographer for RETURN TO SILENT HILL.
The project is a German-British-Serbian co-production between Munich-based Maze Pictures, Lotus Wallace in London and Room 318 WIP in Belgrade, in collaboration with Paris-based Davis Films; producers are Philipp Kreuzer and Joe Neurauter together with Molly Hassell and Victor Hadida. LEONINE Studios is the distributor for Germany, Metropolitan for France. World distribution is being handled by The Veterans, which presented the project at the American Film Market and sold it internationally.
Half of the shooting will take place in Munich, Penzing, Nuremberg, Rossberg and around Lake Ammer. FFF Bayern is funding the project with 1 million euros within the framework of the International Theatrical Features and Series/Co-Productions program.
As the project is still in an early stage, there is no supervising press agency yet. For press inquiries please contact MAZE PICTURES.
WISE GUY
Directed by Samantha Bailey and Angela Barnes and scripted by Chinaka Hodge, the science fiction series has the working title WISE GUY: Young tech genius Riri Williams builds arguably the most technologically advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. Munich-based Rise FX South will be involved in the visual effects design.
FFF Bayern is funding the project with 500,000 euros within the framework of the International Theatrical Features and Series/Line Producer/Digital Image Design program.
Bavaria's Digital Minister and FFF Supervisory Board Chair Judith Gerlach: "Strong stories - that's what cinema needs. And strong stories are what will soon be realized with Bavarian participation. With these international co-productions, Bavaria as a film location is once again demonstrating that films of the highest quality are being made here. I am pleased that we can once again support such projects with FilmFernsehFonds Bayern."