Jalmari Helander’s ‘Immortal’ Picked Up by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions

Leo Barraclough
·2 min read
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Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has swooped on world rights, outside Nordic, for Jalmari Helander’s World War II action film “Immortal.” Jorma Tommila and “Peaky Blinders” star Paul Anderson go head-to-head in the film, which is set to shoot in Lapland, Finland, in September. Nordisk Film has taken Nordic rights to the film.

Set in 1945, “Immortal” tells the story of ex-soldier Aatami (Tommila), who discovers gold in the deep wilderness of Lapland. When he attempts to take his loot into the city, a squadron of Nazi soldiers led by a brutal SS officer (Anderson) get in his way and a battle for the gold ensues between the lone soldier and the Nazis.

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“To make an action film in Finland has been a dream of mine since I was 10 years old,” Helander said. “Finally I am in a situation where I can fulfill my dream and make an epic, action-packed survival story which takes place in World War II.”

Anderson is best-known for playing Arthur Shelby in the five seasons of the hit series “Peaky Blinders,” but has also had key roles in high profile films including Oscar winner “The Revenant,” Scott Cooper’s “Hostiles,” Ron Howard’s “In the Heart of the Sea” and Yann Demange’s “’71.” He recently completed Guillermo Del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” for Searchlight opposite Cate Blanchett, Bradley Cooper and Rooney Mara.

Helander’s first feature “Rare Exports” (2010) was a huge success, and won festival awards at Locarno, Brussels, Sitges and others. His second film, the action adventure “Big Game” starred Samuel L. Jackson, Jim Broadbent, Felicity Huffman and Ray Stevenson, and sold out worldwide after its successful premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in 2014.

Petri Jokiranta, who also produced Helander’s two previous films, is producing “Immortal” through Subzero Film Entertainment. Mike Goodridge, Gregory Ouanhon and Antonio Salas are executive producers.

“Immortal,” which will be in English and some Finnish, is backed by Finnish Film Foundation, Business Finland – Audiovisual Production Incentive and MTV Cmore.

Anderson is represented by CAA. Helander is represented by WME.

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