Kursk
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer: Robert Rodat
After his well-received period drama The Commune premiered in the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, Danish auteur Thomas Vinterberg scored a plum gig courtesy of Luc Besson’s Europacorp with Kursk, a reenactment of the infamous submarine tragedy in 2000 when a Russian navel exercise in the Barents Sea causes explosions aboard the vessel. While the Russian government refused foreign aid for five days, the men aboard struggled to stay alive. Initially, Martin Zandvliet was attached to the project, replaced by fellow countryman Vinterberg, who attracted the likes of Colin Firth and Matthias Schoenaerts to star (although none of them are Russian).
Cast: Colin Firth, Matthias Schoenaerts
Production Co./Producer(s): Europacorp.
U.S. Distributor: Relativity Europacorp Distribution.
Release Date: The original shooting schedule was delayed due to the Russian government’s insistence on proper permits beforehand, with production now scheduled for March of 2017. If Kursk will be completed in 2017, it will be later in the year, and could either go directly to theatrical release or score a gala screening at any number of fall fests, from TIFF to AFI.
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