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The producers are proud to announce the start of production on Anton Corbijn’s film of John le Carré’s “A Most Wanted Man”. We have a thrilling script, an enviable cast and a brilliant director. The beautiful city of Hamburg has welcomed the circus to town and we are very excited to be shooting.
We look forward to bringing you regular updates from the set of the film in our blog. In the meantime, here is the official press release.
Principal photography begins on A MOST WANTED MAN Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe and Robin Wright star in Anton Corbijn’s adaptation of John le Carré’s worldwide bestseller
For Immediate Release: 25th September 2012
Principal photography commenced yesterday in Hamburg on a major film adaptation of John le Carré’s worldwide bestselling 2008 novel A MOST WANTED MAN. Anton Corbijn (The American, Control) directs a cast led by Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master, Capote), Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes, Midnight In Paris), Willem Dafoe (Shadow of the Vampire, Platoon) and Robin Wright (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Moneyball).
When a half-Chechen, half-Russian, tortured half-to-death immigrant turns up in Hamburg’s Islamic community, laying claim to his father’s ill gotten fortune, both German and US security agencies take a close interest: as the clock ticks down and the stakes rise, the race is on to establish this most wanted man’s true identity – oppressed victim or destruction-bent extremist?
Poignant, compassionate and thrilling, A MOST WANTED MAN prickles with tension right through to its last heart-stopping scene. It is a cerebral tale of intrigue that is both contemporary and deeply human, touching on love, rivalry, politics and the world we live in.
Adapted for the screen by Australian writer Andrew Bovell (Lantana), the film is produced by Gail Egan (The Constant Gardener) and Andrea Calderwood (The Last King of Scotland) for Potboiler, Stephen Cornwell (screenwriter – Unknown) and Simon Cornwell for The Ink Factory, and Malte Grunert (Perfect Sense) for Amusement Park. Helge Sasse for Senator Film Produktion is Co-Producer and Senator Film Verleih will handle the German release. Executive Producers are John le Carré, Tessa Ross (Film4), Sam Englebardt and William D Johnson (Demarest).
Rounding out the cast are rising Russian star Grigory Dobrygin as the titular most wanted man, Turkish actress Derya Alabora, and the cream of German acting talent, including Nina Hoss, Daniel Brühl, Franz Hartwig, Kostja Ullman, Rainer Bock, Charlotte Schwab, Max Volkert Martens and Martin Wuttke.
Anton Corbijn is the director of two previous feature films: Ian Curtis biopic Control and European hit-man thriller The American, starring George Clooney. He is also a very well established photographer, stage-designer, art- and music-video director. As a photographer he has published over 15 books and had major museum shows. Best known for his long associations with Depeche Mode, U2 and Tom Waits, he has worked with people as diverse as Miles Davis, Gerhard Richter, Patti Smith, Kate Moss, Lucian Freud, Frank Sinatra, Damien Hirst and Captain Beefheart.
Master spy novelist John le Carré is the author of 23 books. He first came to know Hamburg during the Cold War years of the early 1960s, when he was posted there as Political Consul while working for the British government, and returned there more recently to research and write A Most Wanted Man. Eight of his novels have so far been adapted for film, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Constant Gardener, The Russia House and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.
The creative team behind A MOST WANTED MAN also includes Director of Photography Benoît Delhomme (Lawless), Production Designer Sebastian Krawinkel (Anonymous), Costume Designer Nicole Fischnaller (The Counterfeiters), Chief Hair and Makeup Designer Sharon Martin (Snow White and the Huntsman) and Editor Claire Simpson (The Constant Gardener).
FilmNation are handling international sales, and have already completed deals with Mars (France), Senator Film (Germany), Aurum Producciones – an Alliance Films Company (Spain), Momentum Pictures – an Alliance Films Company (UK), Forum (Eastern Europe), Benelux and Canada (both Entertainment One), Spentzos (Greece), Sam Films (Iceland), LEV (Israel), Italia Film (Middle East), Lusomundo (Portugal), Svensk (Scandinavia), Elite Film (Switzerland), Aqua Group (Turkey), Sun (Latin America), HGC (China), Tomson (Hong Kong), Multivision (India/Pakistan), PT Amero (Indonesia), Cathay (Singapore), Studio Solution (Taiwan), Roadshow (Australia) and Ster Kinekor (South Africa).
The film is supported by production funding from the FilmFörderung Hamburg Schleswig Holstein, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg and the DFFF.
For updates on the film during production and beyond, please visit The Ink Factory’s website or Potboiler Production’s website.
For further information, please contact:
PREMIER
Jonathan Rutter / Phil Cairns
Tel: + 44 20 7292 8330
firstname.surname@premiercomms.com
NOTES TO EDITORS:
POTBOILER PRODUCTIONS
Potboiler Productions, started in 2000, is an independent film and television production company, specialising in producing world class talent-based feature films and high end television series. The principals are Gail Egan and Andrea Calderwood. Between them Gail and Andrea have produced an eclectic, award-winning and commercially successful mix of feature films including a classic adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby directed by Doug McGrath; De-Lovely, a musical based on the life of Cole Porter; the rock epic Brothers of the Head; The Constant Gardener, which was directed by Fernando Meirelles and won Rachel Weisz the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2006 Academy Awards; The Last King of Scotland, directed by Kevin Macdonald, winner of three BAFTAs and the Academy Award for Best Actor for Forest Whitaker; and the multi-Emmy-winning Generation Kill, written by David Simon, for HBO.
THE INK FACTORY
A Most Wanted Man is the first film to go into production for The Ink Factory, a film, television and digital content production company based in London and Los Angeles.
The company was founded in 2010 by Stephen Cornwell (writer of the 2011 hit Unknown) and his brother Simon, who were joined at the inception of the company by Rhodri Thomas (formerly VP, Production and Development at The Weinstein Company, where his key successes included The King’s Speech, Nowhere Boy and The Reader).
The Ink Factory believes in quality entertainment for a broad audience, and collaborates with storytellers and filmmakers who inspire, challenge and innovate. One of those collaborators is the author John le Carré, with whom the company has a close relationship. The company is working on a number of film and television adaptations of his work.
Forthcoming projects for The Ink Factory include Our Kind of Traitor, directed by Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) and adapted by Hossein Amini (Drive) from the novel by John le Carré; an untitled action thriller written by Stephen Cornwell and his writing partner Oliver Butcher, to star Vin Diesel; and White Ghost Girls, a luminous coming-of-age story based on the critically-acclaimed novel by Alice Greenway.
Visit inkfactoryfilms.com for regular updates on projects and creative partnerships.
AMUSEMENT PARK
Amusement Park was founded in 2009 by Malte Grunert, formerly head of features at Studio Hamburg. To date, Malte has produced seven feature films, including Perfect Sense, directed by David Mackenzie, starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green, and The Cry of the Owl, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, directed by Jamie Thraves and starring Paddy Considine and Julia Stiles.
Amusement Park is based in Berlin and Hamburg and aims to create quality projects with commercial appeal for an international audience. The company makes films in both English and German. The current development slate includes new projects from directors David Mackenzie (Hallam Foe) and Lone Scherfig (One Day).