Italy’s I Wonder Pictures Boards Finnish ‘Super Pitch-Black’ Comedy ‘The Player’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Marta Balaga
·4 min read

Italy’s I Wonder Pictures has boarded Finnish comedy “The Player” as a co-producer ahead of its bow at Haugesund’s industry sidebar New Nordic Films.

The company will also handle local distribution. The project is directed by Teemu Nikki and produced by It’s Alive Films’ Jani Pösö.

More from Variety

“I consider Teemu Nikki as one of the best European directors. He is brilliant, prolific and always surprising,” Andrea Romeo, I Wonder Pictures’ general manager and head of acquisitions, told Variety.

“I think that his cinema will be increasingly appreciated in the world, as well as in Italy. His movies always talk about important issues, keeping a perfect balance between black comedy and auteur cinema. It’s also a great pleasure for us to work with a producer like Jani and a company as prestigious as It’s Alive Films.”

The Finnish duo has just been nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize for their previous film “The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic,” also awarded in Venice.

Their 2017 release, “Euthanizer,” was selected as Finland’s Oscar submission, while children’s film “Snot & Splash” is already in the works, promising to deliver yet another dark twist, as its protagonists have to take a break from their vacation and save the world from getting sucked into a black hole.

In “The Player,” about “the cheapest drivers in the hearse business,” gambling meets unlikely friendship as two men – “Tom of Finland’s” Pekka Strang and Jari Virman – find themselves in a no-way-out situation.

“It’s probably the best film we have made so far,” said Jani Pösö, mentioning his and Nikki’s signature “entertaining approach to deadly serious subjects.”

“The main character, played by Pekka, is a gambling addict. He has a brain but no heart, and his only friend discovers his brain works only at 15% capacity. It’s based on a true story Teemu read about: a man was living a normal life, had a headache, went to the doctor’s and that’s what they discovered. We call him the 85% brainless man.”

The film will talk about gambling, or addiction in general, from Strang’s character perspective.

“I wanted to make a comedy about an addict. About a man, Risto, who lies, steals and uses everyone around him and who’s only friend is a man without a brain, Arto. And, of course, I wanted to surround them with death, so I made them hearse drivers,” adds Nikki, who also wrote the story.

The Player
The Player

“Risto has destroyed his life all by himself and Arto has lost his family, job and home because suddenly, he has become a joke. Every morning they wait for someone to die to get money so that Risto can gamble.”

Then they come across an underground casino, where the game of Russian roulette is played. Their new job is to take care of the players’ dead bodies.

“The film will be, again, a pitch-black comedy where you will laugh and cry,” he says.

“I would even call it a super pitch-black comedy. With some action-thriller elements. These guys, they end up gambling with their own lives!” noted Pösö, adding the project is “different but the same” for the company.

“You could say that we tend to have abnormal projects and normal projects, and this one is more or less normal. But once again, we are trying to find new ways of telling a story.”

“We know how serious Pekka and Jari are when it comes to work. They really want to develop their characters, so Teemu brought them on really early. Usually, you never have time to rehearse – we are not in Hollywood. Although they probably don’t have the time either.”

But there is a bittersweet side to the new project. Their longtime collaborator, cinematographer Jyrki Arnikari, passed away in the summer, with “The Player” marking his last credit.

“He was a friend and a sort of mentor to us. It’s sad but I am happy we got to do this together,” admitted Pösö. While the team has already shot a demo, principal photography will start in October, with the premiere set for 2023.

“We hope it’s only the first co-production with I Wonder Pictures,” said Pösö.

“It’s a new chapter for us and our way of making films. And it feels good.”

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.