The Crow
The joint venture of the Munich-based production companies Occupant Entertainment and maze pictures is participating in the major international big budget cinema project The Crow, which will be shot in Bavaria: The Crow will be an action thriller based on the comic book of the same name by James O'Barr and the cult film of the same name, directed by Alex Proyas and starring Brandon Lee, which was released in 1994.
The FFF-funded remake will be directed by British director Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsmen with Kirsten Stewart, Ghost in the Shell with Scarlett Johannson). The screenplay for The Crow is by Zach Baylin, who was nominated for an Oscar this year with his screenplay for King Richard. It stars Bill Skarsgard (It), FKA Twigs and Danny Huston.
Prague and Munich serve as filming locations for the project, which producers Joe Neurauter and Philipp Kreuzer have brought to Bavaria. Penzing Studios is where the entire virtual production takes place. Bavaria is also where much of the digital asset creation and VFX work takes place. FFF Bayern is funding The Crow with 2 million euros.
Behind the project are Occupant Entertainment and maze pictures, as well as production companies Hassell Free Productions, Electric Shadow Company, Davis Films and Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation. Producers are Molly Hassell, Victor Hadida, John Jencks and Edward R. Pressman. Film Nation is responsible for world distribution, except for the U.S. and Canada, for which CAA Media Finance handles rights trading.
Heidi – Rettung der Luchse
Munich-based Studio 100 Media, which produced the feature film series Maya the Bee and is working on an animated adaptation of Don Quixote, will also bring the Heidi story to the big screen in a new way and as an animated film: In Heidi - Saving the Lynxes, eight-year-old Heidi saves a family of lynxes and their home from a greedy businessman. She gets her grandfather to come clean with the village community, and she realizes that her beloved little lynx belongs with his family in the wild - just as she belongs with her grandfather in the mountains. The film will be directed by Tobias Schwarz and written by Rob Sprackling, Tess Meyer, Peter Dollinger and Marcus Sauermann.
The film is being made as an international co-production between Germany and Belgium. Studio 100 Media is leading the co-production with Fabrique Fantastique, an animation studio and production company based in Lier near Antwerp. LEONINE Studios will handle distribution for Germany, while Studio 100 Film will handle world sales. More than half of the animation days will take place in Bavaria. FFF Bayern is funding Heidi - Rettung der Luchse with 1 million euros.
Hagen (Series)
Constantin Film and Constantin Television are bringing the material surrounding the character Hagen from the Saga of the Nibelungs both to the big screen in epic form and to streaming screens in the form of a modern six-part series. Both projects are being created independently of each other. Constantin Film's theatrical film was funded by the FFF Awards Committee for Film and Television Funding in July 2022, while the series, which is being created for the global broadcast and platform market, has now been recommended for funding by the FFF Committee for International Theatrical Films and Series with 900,000 euros.
The series Hagen will be realized as an international co-production, co-production partner is Wilma Film based in Prague. Christian Rohde, Christoph Müller, Jan Ehlert and Constanze Guttmann are leading the production from the German side, Filip Hering from the Czech side. Calculation and financing indicate a Bavarian effect of over 600 percent; it will be generated, among other things, by post-production – the visual effects will be produced almost exclusively in Bavaria.
The series material is based on the 1986 novel Hagen von Tronje by Wolfgang Hohlbein: Two men fight for the soul of a kingdom. Hagen von Tronje is the loyal arm of arms of the King of Burgundy. In the midst of dark, crisis-ridden times, the famous dragon slayer Siegfried of Xanten appears. But can Hagen recognize in time recognize whether Siegfried will be Burgundy's savior or a conqueror? The film is directed by Munich-based directing duo Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert, who wrote the script together with Munich-based author Doron Wisotzky.
Eine Billion Dollar
A high-end thriller series for a streaming service is being produced by Munich-based W&B Television: Eine Billion Dollar is based on Andreas Eschbach's bestselling book of the same name: John, a bicycle courier from Berlin, becomes the richest man in the world overnight. A trillion dollars, unbelievable! But this extraordinary inheritance is linked to a prophecy: He must use it to give humanity back its lost future. But isn't it already too late? When John takes up the fight, however, it turns out that powerful opponents want to prevent this and conjure up a much greater danger that threatens to destroy not only him, but the entire world.
The scripts for the six-part series were written by Stefan Holtz and Florian Iwersen, Florian Baxmayer will direct. Max Wiedemann, Quirin Berg and Kerstin Nommsen are serving as producers. FFF Bayern is funding the project in the area of International Co-Production/ Line Producer Series with 250,000 euros.
Further Projects
The committee for International Theatrical Film and Series/Line Producers/Digital Image Design also recommended three international blockbusters with 980,000 euros in funding, for which further Munich-based companies are involved: a project by Pharos - The Post Group (a brand of Media Services GmbH) with 100,000 euros, one by Rise FX South with 500,000 euros, and a theatrical film by Scanline VFX with 380,000 euros.
Bavaria's Digital Minister Judith Gerlach: "After the Corona pandemic, cinemas can now take off again – and to do so, they need good films. I am very pleased that we are able to support, among other projects, the new adaptation of the comic book The Crow by successful director Rupert Sanders, a highly interesting story that will be predominantly produced in Bavaria. Bavaria is and remains one of the top production locations for the international film industry."