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SF Studios, the 104-year old Nordic giant, has crashed into the awards season with Tom Hanks\u2019 \u201cA Man Called Otto,\u201d which it produced with Playtone and fully financed.<\/p>\n
Buzzed about as a potentially strong Oscar candidate since its first official screening in L.A. last week, the Sony Pictures film is a remake of \u201cA Man Called Ove,\u201d the Swedish hit also produced by SF Studios. The 2015 film, adapted from Fredrik Backman\u2019s global bestseller, earned two Oscar nominations.<\/p>\n
SF Studios\u2019 CEO and president Michael Porseryd told Variety that the $50-million film with Hanks underscores the banner\u2019s commitment to theatrical movies and its drive to own intellectual property rights for content it finances.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest difficulty we\u2019re facing right now is to get audiences back into theaters, but when a movie works in cinemas, the payback is much bigger than when dealing with a streamer,\u201d said Porseryd, who added that SF Studios was also committed to working with streamers. \u201cThey are very important to us as well because they\u2019re allowing us to develop content on a much higher scale,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n
The executive said crowd-pleasers like \u2018A Man Called Otto\u2019 boast the \u201crare potential to become blockbusters.\u201d That said, the company doesn\u2019t have a specific strategy to make as many English-language movies of that scope because they require \u201ca lot of efforts and resources\u201d but will \u201cinstead look at it opportunistically,\u201d Porseryd explained.<\/p>\n
Porseryd pointed that \u201cA Man Called Otto\u201d marks one of the first remakes delivered by the original producer. This year\u2019s best picture winner \u201cCODA\u201d is another recent example.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got a call from Tom Hanks\u2019 office we were stunned \u2014 after all, he\u2019s one of the world\u2019s biggest stars and also one of the most beloved by all generations,\u201d said Porseryd, who hosted a gala premiere for the movie on Dec. 13 in Stockholm with Hanks, Mariana Trevi\u00f1o, director Marc Forster, Wilson, Truman Hanks and SF Studios\u2019 producer Fredrik Wikstr\u00f6m Nicastro on hand.<\/p>\n
The executive said Hanks and Wilson were eager to make the film with SF Studios and got them involved every step of the way, while they spearheaded all creative decisions.<\/p>\n
The banner made its English-language debut with \u201cHorizon Line,\u201d a disaster movie starring Allison Williams which was released in the middle of the pandemic and bombed at the B.O. But \u201cA Man Called Otto\u201d is a world appart.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Man Called Otto\u201d will be widely released by SF Studios across the Nordics in a month. The company is having a banner 2022 with another comedy \u201cThe Bonus Family,\u201d a movie produced by its Swedish label FLX. A spinoff the hit TV show by the same name, \u201cThe Bonus Family\u201d is currently topping the year\u2019s box office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep our focus on Nordic production and distribution with a mix of light-hearted movies and big-budget action-adventure movies,\u201d said Porseryd, citing \u201cThe Abyss,\u201d a female-driven Swedish disaster film directed by Richard Holm (\u201cJohan Falk\u201d). The movie chronicles the tragic events that took place in the mining town of Kiruna. SF Studios has also started to expand is Danish production pipeline. The Danish box office is one of Scandinavia\u2019s healthiest markets.<\/p>\n
The SF Studios boss said the company, which sold its exhibition business many years ago, is aiming to produce in-house two times more movies per year. \u201cOur industry is changing so rapidly and being producers allows us to control more of the rights which is key,\u201d said Porseryd. <\/p>\n
The company has also highly busy working with streamers on a raft of TV series and select movies, such as \u201cRed Dot,\u201d Netflix\u2019s first Swedish movie, as well the Danish thriller \u201cLoving Adults,\u201d costume drama \u201cEhrengard\u201d and acclaimed Swedish series \u201cSnabba Cash\u201d for Netflix, and has partnered up with Viaplay on \u201cThe \u00c5re Murders,\u201d an anticipated series based the Swedish crime novels penned by bestselling author Viveca Sten (\u201cThe Sandhamn Murders\u201d).<\/p>\n
The Nordic banner, which is now equally involved in films and TV series, is working with REinvent International Sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Man Called Otto\u201d will be released globally by Sony Pictures on Jan. 13.<\/p>\n
View this article at Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nordic Giant SF Studios Boss Michael Porseryd Discusses \u2019A Man Called Otto,\u2019 Company\u2019s Production Strategy: SF Studios, the 104-year old Nordic giant, has crashed into the awards season with Tom Hanks\u2019 \u201cA Man Called Otto,\u201d which it produced with Playtone and fully financed. Buzzed about as a potentially strong Oscar candidate since its first official
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