American producer Paula Wagner, who has worked closely with Tom Cruise, is in talks with Iceland-based film producers Richard Scobie and Kristinn Thórdarson about participating in the production of their movie 66 Degrees North.
“It simply changes everything for us and places a certain quality stamp on the project which we didn’t have before,” Thórdarson, who works as a producer at Saga Film, told Fréttabladid. In addition to Thórdarson and Scobie, Edwina Fork from Ireland is on the production team.
Wagner is a big shot in Hollywood and has worked with Cruise for many years. She produced all the Mission Impossible movies, Valkyrie, War of the Worlds and The Last Samurai.
“We had a meeting with Paula at the beginning of June and have since been in good contact with her. Paula read the screenplay and liked it and after that talks began. We are also in talks with actors whose identities we cannot reveal at this point,” Thórdarson said.
The screenplay to 66 Degrees North was selected for the Co-pro festival in Los Angeles at the beginning of June. It is held by the Producers Guild of America and every year five foreign screenplays are chosen that are deemed likely to gain popularity in the US.
66 Degrees North is a thriller in the spirit of the Hitchcock movies and The Others, which Wagner produced. Approximately 20 percent of the movie will be shot in Iceland and the rest in Ireland.
The goal is for shooting to begin next summer under the direction of Egill Örn Egilsson, aka Eagle Egilsson. It would be his first full-length movie. The production is estimated to cost EUR 5 million (ISK 790 million, USD 6 million).
“We are working on bringing it all together. We are hoping that a fairly large casting office in the UK will help us find actors for the main roles,” Thórdarson said.
He said it is likely that Icelanders will play supporting roles but that the large parts will be played by well-known foreign actors. The movie will be in English.
