EXCLUSIVE:Netflix is launching a number of ambitious European titles in the next year, as part of its ongoing drive to increase local feature productions. Already, Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-shortlisted The Hand of God launched on the service in late 2021, hitting the Top 10 in 11 countries, while ahead are films from such directors as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Louis Leterrier, Romain Gavras, Edward Berger, Roar Uthaug and Oscar winner Sébastian Lelio, among others. J.A. Bayona’s Society Of The SnowThe Spanish feature spinoff of Netflix’s hit series is also available. Bird Box.
David Kosse, a former executive at Universal, Film4 or STX, was appointed VP of International Film at Netflix. He will oversee international film production and acquires with a particular focus on creating and acquiring non-English-language movies for the streaming service. Over the years, he’s built strong talent relationships. This year, part of Netflix’s strategy is to place emphasis on “big filmmakers.”
He said, “I love the variety of everything we’re doing and I’m really pleased that the number of filmmakers that we set out to work with two or three years ago from Ed (Berger) to Paolo (Sorrentino) to Juan Antonio (Bayona) to getting Balt (Kormakur) to do something, Jeunet, Gavras… We’ve managed to have a really broad list of these filmmakers.”
Does it seem difficult to get talent to stream movies? Kosse responds, “I think that we’ve managed to become a place that they can make these films the way they want to make them. Scott (Stuber’s) group in LA with (The Irishman) and everything else kind of opened the door for a lot of these. We’re also letting them tell stories that they’ve been pretty passionate about wanting to tell and that fit with what we think our members want; there’s an alignment of interest that has worked out.”
Kosse recommends that you view non-English content “has tripled over the last three years.”This can be partly explained by more content being produced and an increase in subtitling and dubbing, but overall “We are finding that the appetite continues to grow.”
Currently in the finishing stages, Berger’s All Quiet On the Western FrontThis is an especially compelling project. This movie is a modern take on Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel. It was also the inspiration for the 1930 Best Picture Oscar winner. The film, shot in German, stars Daniel Brühl and Albrecht Schuch and follows a young soldier’s terrifying experiences during World War I. Kosse says that doing it in German “has made it a transformative experience.”
Berger, he surmises, likely couldn’t have gotten All Quiet On the Western Front made elsewhere at the budget level that’s gone into the project. While Kosse won’t be led as to what the exact spend is in EMEA on an annual basis, he says he has “an envelope”There are many areas in which you can work. Each country has its own local team that is trying to make five to 10 additional films. “The primary effort is to try to have a balanced slate that combines with local scripted series, documentaries and stand-up,”He elaborates.
The company also finds repeat business through talent. Berger has been working with Netflix to produce limited series The 39 StepsBenedict Cumberbatch’s star vehicle, the. Lupin star Omar Sy is re-teaming with that series’ director Leterrier for The TakedownFormerly known as Tour De Force), a buddy cop action comedy that’s the follow up to 2012’s The Other Side Of The TracksThis year, the premiere of and is scheduled for this year.
France is not the only country where you can find it. Amélie auteur Jeunet’s future-set comedy Bigbug will premiere February 11 while Gavras’ topical untitled project is due later this year and was written with Oscar nominee Ladj Ly (Les Misérables) and Elias Belkeddar (My Days of Glory). Plot is being kept under wraps.
The Spanish spinoff of Bird Box. Kosse explains how it happens “within the universe of when (the original) Bird Box is happening and what was going on in the rest of the world.”Dylan Clark produced the song.Bird Box, The Batman), Chris Morgan (Bird Box, Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw) and Adrián Guerra and Núria Valls for Nostromo Pictures, its exec producers include Bird Box’s Susanne Bier and Ryan Lewis. Alex and David Pastor are the directors and writers.The Occupant, The Head, Carriers, Los Últimos Dias).
Kosse likens the project’s potential to that of Army Of ThievesThis was a worldwide hit spinoff of Army Of The DeadAccording to Netflix, they are looking to do more Bird Box spinoffs, “expanding these universes by moving to different locations and in different languages.”
Bayona, Spain is also currently filming Society Of The Snow. Based on the book La Sociedad De La NieveThe movie is set in 1972. It tells the true story about what happens when a Uruguayan Air Force flight carrying a Rugby team to Chile crashes onto a glacier. Only 29 of the 45 passengers survived the crash, finding themselves in one of the world’s toughest environments, and forced to resort to extreme measures to stay alive.
Kosse explained that Bayona was involved in the passion project for a decade and engaged with all the original survivors in making the movie. The movie is drawn from the book, to which Netflix has rights.
Kosse answers the question of whether the upcoming films will feature a theatrical element. “We don’t really do that up front. We effectively say we’ll look at a film and see how we go. I suspect with Bayona there will be something like that, but it’s not set in stone.”
Production has ceased elsewhere TrollUthaug directs the creation feature “The Beast” (Tomb Raider). The pitch: An ancient troll awakens in a Norwegian mountain and a group of heroes must band together to stop it from causing deadly havoc. Kosse claims that the team spent over a year designing the beast. Troll “a giant four-quadrant event movie that happens to take place in Norway… with a troll.”This year, the film will be released.
Kosse is also responsible for overseeing projects from Ireland, the UK, and Ireland. Feel-good sports pic is one of the projects on deck for 2022. The Swimmers. Sally El Hosaini, who co-wrote the Working Title film with Jack Thorne, is the director. This is the true story about Yusra Mardini and Sarah Mardini, swimming sisters. It tells their amazing journey from Syria in war-torn Syria all the way to Rio Olympics 2016. Manal Issa, Nathalie Issa, Ahmed Malek, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ali Suliman, Kinda Alloush, James Krishna Floyd and Elmi Rashid Elmi star.
Another title from the UK The Wonder, is headed by Fantastic Woman Oscar laureate Sebastián Lelio who co-wrote with Emma Donoghue and Alice Birch. Based on Donoghue’s 2016 novel, the psychological thriller is set in the Irish Midlands in 1862 when a young girl stops eating but remains miraculously alive and well. Lib Wright, an English nurse, is sent to the village to watch the girl’s behavior while pilgrims and tourists trek to the area to see the phenomenon. Is there a saint in the village? ‘surviving on manna from heaven’Are there other ominous motives? Florence Pugh and Tom Burke are among the cast. Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Andrew Lowe are the producers for House Productions. Andrew Lowe and Ed Guiney for Element Pictures are the producers.
Here’s a snapshot of other upcoming titles (with dates where available):
JANUARY
MUNICH – THE EDGE OF WAR: Debuting Friday, Christian Schwochow’s London Film Festival premiere stars George MacKay and Jeremy Irons. Based on the bestseller by Robert Harris, it’s set in the fall of 1938 as Europe stands on the brink of war. Adolf Hitler is preparing to invade Czechoslovakia and Neville Chamberlain’s government desperately seeks a peaceful solution. As the pressure builds, a British civil servant is summoned to Munich with a German diplomat. The two friends become embroiled in a web that is full of political subterfugel and real danger as negotiations begin. Is war possible with the world watching and at what cost?
MARCH
AGAINST THE IICEBaltasar Koromakur’s thriller, which was shown at the Berlin Film Festival in February will be available on Netflix starting March 2. Directed by Peter Flinth, it’s co-written by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (who also stars and produces), and is the true story of a pair of Danish explorers who become stranded while seeking a lost Artcic expedition. Peaky BlindersJoe Cole, an alum, stars in the two-hander.
BLACK CRAB: Another festival premiere, this time at Gothenburg, Adam Berg’s Scandi action thriller debuts March 18 on Netflix. Starring Noomi Rapace, it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world torn apart by climate change and war. Six soldiers embark on an interminable winter mission across the frozen ocean to transport a package that could bring an end to the conflict. Equipped with ice skates, unaware of what they’re carrying, or who they can trust, the mission challenges their beliefs and forces them to ask: what are they willing to sacrifice for their own survival?
LATER IN 2022
BLASTED: Directed by Martin Sofiedal, written by Emanuel Nordrum and produced by Are Heidenstrøm (The Wave) at Miso Film, the sci-fi comedy is inspired by a real-life UFO-phenomenon in Hessdalen, Norway and follows childhood friends Sebastian and Mikkel, who are reunited for Sebastian’s bachelor party. While Mikkel never matured past teenage laser tag-prodigy, Sebastian has grown into a workaholic who’s using the party to schmooze a potential client. But when the gathering stumbles into an alien invasion, it’s up to Mikkel and Sebastian to reunite and fight back as the kick-ass lasertag duo they once were.
I CAME BY: After his feature debut that won him the BAFTA, Under the ShadowBabak Anvari directs and writes the story of a rebellious young graffiti artists who targets wealthy families and discovers an amazing secret that will lead him on a dangerous path that may endanger his family and friends. Hugh Bonneville, Kelly Macdonald, George Mackay are all stars.
THE STRAYSThe film’s debut feature, directed by Nathaniel Martello White, stars Ashley Madekwe and Bukky Bakray. It also features Jorden Myrie (director), Samuel Small (director), Maria Almeida (director) and Justin Salinger (writer). The drama was shot in England between September 2021 and November 2021. It depicts how the idyllic life of an upper-middle class woman begins to crumble when two shadowy characters arrive in her hometown.
I USED TO BE FAMOUS: The story of an ex-popstar in desperate times who hopes to make a comeback, and the unexpected friendship he makes with an autistic young drummer wraps production at 2021. Leo Long, Ed Skrein, and newcomer Leo Long are the stars.