Nordic Genre Invasion at Cannes

Six Nordic and German production companies have joined forces to launch a Nordic Genre Invasion at Cannes next week, spearheaded by Finland’s Blind Spot Pictures and Sweden’s LittleBig Productions.

The coalition is designed to introduce new product to financiers and buyers.

Finnish producer and Blind Spot chief Tero Kaukomaa, who last year launched Timo Vuorensola’s sci-fi comedy, Iron Sky, said: “During the last five festivals we have organised the Iron Sky Lounge – this time we will also have other cool Nordic projects at the stand, and I am sure we will develop this concept further for upcoming markets.”

Partly crowd-funded, Iron Sky took 183,000 admissions in Finland, was sold to more than 60 territories and won an AACTA - the Australian Oscar.

Blind Spot – now run by Kaukomaa/Vuorensola in partnership – and LittleBig will share the invasion with Norway’s Pictures, Finland’s Fisher King and Troll VfX, and Germany’s 27 Films Production.

Blind Spot’s slate includes Iron Sky II: The Coming Race, which they are currently packaging.

It also has submarine-set horror Deadris and time travel feature I Killed Adolf Hitler. Based on Norwegian cartoonist Jason-John Arne Sæterøy’s graphic novella, it follows a UK hitman sent back in time to assassinate the dictator, only to see Adolf escape to the present, leaving his would-be killer in the past.

Tappeluft contributes Dead Snow II, Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola’s sequel to his 2009 horror comedy about Nazi zombies, which his production partner Kjetil Omberg announced at Berlin’s EFM and sold to 20 territories, including the UK (Entertainment One) and Germany (Splendid).

“It will be bigger, scarier, funnier, more action-filled and gorier than the first,” said Wirkola, whose first Hollywood movie, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters has now exceeded $223 million box office worldwide since its January 25 release.

LittleBig is in production with Swedish directors Bonita Drake and Johan Bromander’s feature debut, American Burger, which they hope “will do for burgers what Jaws did for sharks.”

Produced by Anna G Magnúsdóttir and Anders Granström, the English-language horror comedy depicts a bus load of US students – jocks, cheerleaders, nerds – on a culture trip to Europe, where they realise that the European notion of hamburgers is different from what they are used to. The film will be ready for autumn release.