‘Game of Thrones’ Star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Set for ‘Suicide Tourist’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister in “Game of Thrones,” heads a distinguished European cast in “Suicide Tourist,” a mystery drama with romantic elements from Copenhagen-based Snowglobe, whose production credits include “Thelma,” “The Untamed” and “Birds of a Passage.”
Described by Snowglobe in a statement as its most ambitious film to date, “Suicide Tourist” marks Danish director Jonas Alexander Arnby’s follow-up to his breakout debut “When Animals Dream,” which played in Cannes Critics’ Week and sold to Radius for the U.S. and to another score of territories. Paris-based Charades has acquired world sales rights to “Suicide Tourist” and will introduce the title to buyers at next week’s American Film Market in Santa Monica.
Coster-Waldau stars opposite Sweden’s Tuva Novotny, co-star of international productions such as “Borg vs. McEnroe” and Alex Garland’s “Annihilation.”
Arnby’s “When Animals Dream” proved catnip to distributors because of its director-driven mix of quality art film and genre. While upping the ante on scale, “Suicide Tourist” looks likely to repeat this mix in its tale of an insurance claims adjuster, Max, investigating a man’s disappearance. The trail leads him to a uniquely secretive hotel that offers its guests elaborate assistance in fulfilling their fantasy suicides. Caught in his own existential crisis, Max begins to question his perception of reality and wonders if death is the only way out of the hotel.
Currently shooting in Norway, “Suicide Tourist” will wrap production in November and be ready for delivery in spring 2019. Arnby described the film as “the weird and emotional love story I always wanted to make.” It is written by Rasmus Birch, who also wrote “When Animals Dream” and 2011’s Rome and Tallinn Fest winner “Brotherhood.”
Coster-Waldau said he was excited to be working “on a truly original, thrilling and moving love story….We are halfway through the shoot, and my enthusiasm has only increased seeing the set design, the work by our DP Niels [Thastum] and my fellow actors.”
Producers Eva Jacobsen, Mikkel Jersin and Katrin Pors, who launched Snowglobe in 2015 to support top creative talent around the world and promote new voices from Denmark, said that the movie was “in line with the core vision of our company – a director-driven project based on an original story with international scope.”
Added Charades, which has been tracking Arnby since “When Animals Dream”: “To be working on his second genre film in English with the producers of ‘Birds of Passage’ was a perfect match for us,” it added.
The cast also includes Denmark’s Sobjørg Højfeldt (“Ride Upon the Storm”); Britain’s Robert Aramayo, who plays Eddard Stark in “Game of Thrones,” and Lorraine Hilton (“The Wolfman”); France’s Slimane Dazi (“A Prophet”); Belgium’s Jan Bijvoet (“Embrace of the Serpent”); Denmark’s Sonja Richter (“The Homesman”); Norway’s Kaya Wilkins (“Thelma”); and Germany’s Johanna Wokalek (“The Baader Meinhof Complex”).
Mikkel Hess, composer of “When Animals Dream,” repeats on “Suicide Tourist.” Other key crew members are director of photography Thastum (“Borg vs. McEnroe”) and production designer Simone Grau Roney (“Nymphomaniac”).
“The Suicide Tourist” is co-produced by Germany’s DCM, Mer Film in Norway, Charades and Swedish regional fund Film i Väst and Sweden’s Garagefilm.
It is supported by the Danish Film Institute, Danish public broadcaster DR, Norwegian Film Institute, Norway’s Zefyr regional fund, Swedish Film Institute and Swedish public broadcaster SVT. Two German funds – the Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg and Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung – plus Germany’s DFFF national film fund, free-to-air TV operators ZDF-Arte and pan-European film financier Eurimages are also backing the film.
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