bibi andersson Tagged Articles at Cinematical
'Arn: The Knight Templar' Slays Swedish Box Office
Filed under: Action », Drama », Foreign Language », Independent », Box Office », Cinematical Indie »
Here in America, our box office returns show that we're awash in aliens, predators, chipmunks, secrets and a self-made legend, but Swedish cinema lovers supported one of their own when it opened on Christmas Day. Variety reports that Arn: The Knight Templar has earned a robust $2.2 million in its first two days of release. That breaks down to a per-screen average of $10,821 at 207 engagements and is the "biggest opening ever" for a Swedish film in its homeland.As I reported in August, Arn is the most expensive film and TV project ever made in Scandanavia, budgeted at $30 million to adapt the trilogy by Jan Guillou into two movies and a TV series. The books revolve around a fictional character forced into service as a Knight Templar during the Crusades. Variety says that local reviews "ranged from positive to negative with the majority falling somewhere in-between," but producer Valdemar Bergendahl gave the mixed reaction a positive spin: "It was expected. But I'm happy with all the copy that has been written about the film. It has shown what great interest there is in it." There's a good producer for you: any news is good news!
Arn will expand from Sweden and Norway into Denmark and Finland in the next two months, with the second feature film scheduled for release next fall. In the meantime, an international version will be stitched together from the two features; already it's been sold in 10 territories. With a cast that includes Stellan Skarsgård (Breaking the Waves), Mads Mikkelsen (After the Wedding), Vincent Perez (Queen Margot), Bibi Andersson (Persona), Simon Callow (A Room with a View) and Michael Nyqvist (Next Door), we'll wait to see if any US festivals or distributors display an interest.
Ulrich Thomsen to Star in Spanish/Scandinavian 'The Frost'
Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Independent », Casting », Cinematical Indie »
Who is Ulrich Thomsen? He's played a neo-Nazi locked in a battle between good and evil (Adam's Apples), a famous pianist returning to his hometown (Allegro), a befuddled criminal forced into running a restaurant (Flickering Lights), a Templar Master in the late 12th century (Kingdom of Heaven), and even a villainous henchman (The World is Not Enough) among dozens of parts since 1994. His signature role is probably the lead in the intense dysfunctional family drama The Celebration. According to Variety, he has now signed on to star in The Frost, a psychological drama "turning on the disintegration of a marriage after a son's death."The Frost sounds like an unusual beast. It's a Spanish/Scandinavian co-production, specifically involving Spain's Alta Realitat, Norway's Frost Media and Sweden's Gota Film. Director Ferran Audí is an experienced Spanish actor; The Frost will be his feature debut. The film is loosely based on Henrik Ibsen's 1894 play Little Eyoff, which has never been dramatized for the screen before.
Ibsen.net reported this past August that Thomsen would star in The Frost and added that Audí had written the English-language script with contributions by Swedish playwright Lars Norén. Ibsen.net also indicated that Swedish actresses Annika Hallin (the very good mystery thriller Kissed by Winter and the upcoming period epic Arn: The Knight Templar) and Bibi Andersson (Ingmar Bergman's Persona) would appear. With such good actors on board, The Frost looks like a strong contender for the festival circuit sometime next year.
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