IceNews - Daily News » kormakur

Mark Wahlberg to star in Icelandic film remake

Alex — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:54:21 +0000

It seems likely that the American remake of the Icelandic film Reykjavik Rotterdam will begin at the beginning of next year. Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur confirmed in a telephone interview with Visir.is that Mark Wahlberg will star in the film and Kormakur will direct it himself.

The production company Working Title Films will head the project, and Kormakur says the company has one of the most enviable histories of any – having produced the Cohen brothers’ movies, Dead Man Walking and Bridget Jones, among others.

Kormakur confirmed that at least some of the 45 million dollar film will likely be recorded in Iceland.

New Viking movie in production in Iceland

Alex — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:17:59 +0000

Baltasar Kormakur, Iceland’s best known film director, has started work on a new high-budget Viking movie. This will be the most expensive film ever made in Iceland with an estimated budget of 60 million dollars.

Baltasar, who is probably the most popular movie director in Iceland, became famous for directing “101 Reykjavik” some years ago. His new movie is partly based on the stories of Njal (“Njals saga”), a Viking herse and his family living in Norway and Iceland. The sagas are full of dramatic stories, and they are a very important part of the history of the Icelanders.

“I’m really looking forward to this movie, and I’m sure it will be a hit internationally, it’s so full of excitement and adventure,” the director said.

And this has been seen in Iceland before, An Iceland Incentive press release states. The James Bond movie Die Another Day in 2002, the first episode of the 6th series of the Amazing Race in 2004 and most recent Journey 3-D, were all partly filmed in Iceland.

Icelandic films clean up in Budapest

Alex — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:00:35 +0000

Hungarian news agency MTI reports that Iceland scored a huge success at the Titanic International Film Festival in Budapest over the weekend. Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur is the mastermind behind the piece ‘Bloodline’ which impressed the festival jury and filmgoers alike.

As the festival closed on Sunday, Kormakur’s film ‘Bloodline’ walked away with the main prize, the Breaking Waves Award. The award is not only a recognition of talent, it also comes with a financial prize of EUR 10,000.

The film follows a murder investigation including clues into the genetic bloodline of every resident of Iceland. It wasn’t just the plot which impressed the jury, however, it was the originality of the film as a whole.

The jury considered seven other films before awarding ‘Bloodline’ with the final prize. The film festival went on for 11 days and showed a total of 65 films from across the globe.

Baltasar Kormakur is known for his work as director on the acclaimed film ‘101 Reykjavik’.

Another Icelandic film, ‘Jar City’ also proved popular during the festival and was awarded a prize for the strongest film. The three person jury who awarded the prize noted that the film had exceptional characters, a strong message, a unique approach, along with national flare and characteristic visuality.

“‘Jar City’ is a criminal story which does uniquely balance real and ironic look inside contemporary Iceland,” said the jury.