It is fairly likely that Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise and directed by Joseph Kosinski, will to a large extent be shot in Iceland next year. It features a soldier who is sent to a distant planet to terminate hostile aliens but a stowaway interrupts his plans.
Tom Cruise. Source: Wikipedia.
Kosinski, who last made Tron: Legacy with Jeff Bridges, came to Iceland with the movie’s producer this summer to scout suitable locations for Oblivion with the employees of the Icelandic production company True North, Fréttabladid reports.
“It has been under consideration for some time; the movie was originally supposed to be shot here this summer,” said Leifur B. Dagfinnsson, co-owner of True North. “It isn’t certain and it depends on a few factors, for example whether the new repayment laws will take effect and if the movie will be made. Things change quickly in this business.”
Originally Disney was set to produce the movie but dropped out and now Universal has taken over. An actress is now being sought for the female lead; Olivia Wilde, Olga Kurylenko and Noomi Rapace have been mentioned as likely choices.
Rapace, the star of the adaption of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, was recently in Iceland for the shooting of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus along with Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender.
The crew of the television series Game of Thrones is also expected to come and shoot in Iceland this winter. If everything goes according to plan, Oblivion would be one of three large film projects to take place in Iceland in a short time.
Overall the projects are considered to deliver ISK hundreds of millions (ISK 100 million = USD 876,000, EUR 607,000) to the national economy and also raise the country’s profile, such as when Jake Gyllenhaal tried out survival strategies on Eyjafjallajökull glacier in Man vs. Wild last spring.
Click here to read more about that story and here to read more about Prometheus.
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