Nick Hamm’s Epic ‘William Tell,’ Starring Claes Bang as Resistance Fighter, Sells Wide

Lily Ford
·2 min read
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Beta Cinema has arrived in Cannes with a slew of sales on its resistance epic William Tell.

Currently in post-production, screenwriter Nick Hamm’s adaptation for the big screen of Friedrich Schiller’s play stars Danish actor Claes Bang (The Square), Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson), Connor Swindells (Barbie, Sex Education), Jonah Hauer-King (The Little Mermaid, The Tattooist of Auschwitz) and Oscar winner Ben Kingsley (Schindler’s List, Iron Man).

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The story takes place in the 14th century, “amidst the waning days of the Holy Roman Empire where Europe’s nations fiercely vie for supremacy and the ambitious Austrians, desiring more land, encroach upon Switzerland, a serene and pastoral nation.” William Tell, a formerly peaceful hunter, finds himself forced to take action as his family and homeland come under threat from the oppressive Austrian king and his ruthless warlords.

The film’s ensemble cast also includes Ellie Bamber (Moss & Freud, Nocturnal Animals), Rafe Spall (Life of Pi, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Emily Beecham (The Interpreter, Little Joe) and Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones, The Crown).

Solly McLeod (Tom Jones, The Dead Don’t Hurt), Amar Chadha-Patel (The Decameron, Willow), Sam Keeley (Raw, The English Game), Jake Dunn (The Ballad of Renegade Nell) and Tobias Jowett also star.

Going into the Cannes market, Beta Cinema has closed deals with SF Studios (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland), Beta Fiction (Spain), Eagle Pictures (Italy), Dutch Filmworks (Benelux), Pris Audiovisuais (Portugal), Monolith Films (Poland), Cinemart (Czech Republic), Blitz (Former Yugoslavia), ADS (Hungary and Romania), Beta Film (Bulgaria), TFG (Greece), Ukraine (Top Film) and The Plot Pictures (Middle East & Turkey).

Hamm is a BAFTA Award-winning director who began his career as resident director for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has directed feature films for Miramax, Film 4, Pathé and Lionsgate. His track record includes Driven, which closed the Venice Film Festival, Netflix’s White Lines, and The Journey which premiered at the Venice and Toronto festivals, respectively.

Piers Tempest (The Wife, Emily) and Marie-Christine Jaeger-Firmenich (Gigi & Nate) produce. Executive producers include Jon Hamm, David Nichols and Francesco Marras. William Tell is a Freeturn / Tempo production in association with Beta Cinema, WME Independent, Primefocus studios, Grøenlandia, Cineroma and the IDM Film commission.

Beta Cinema will continue selling William Tell at the Marché du Film in Cannes alongside WME Independent, which represents domestic rights.

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