The Russian thriller Sputnik will receive an English-language remake.
It will be produced by Village Roadshow Pictures (known for a variety of projects including The Matrix and The Joker), 6th & Idaho and XYZ Films.
The latter was responsible for the rental of the original "Sputnik" in North America.
One of the film producers will be Matt Reeves.
His audience knows as the director of the films of the Planet of the Apes franchise and the upcoming Batman film, which is scheduled to premiere in 2022.
Rafi Kron ("Tales from the Loop"), Adam Kassan ("Patrol"), as well as Russian filmmakers Fyodor Bondarchuk, Alexander Andryushchenko, Mikhail Vrubel and Ilya Stewart will also contribute to the production.
They represent studios Art Pictures, Hydrogen and Hype Film, under whose auspices Sputnik was filmed.
Also, director Yegor Abramenko, creative producer Alina Tyazhlova, producers Murad Osmann, Pavel Burya and Mila Rozanova will take on the remake as executive producers.
“We believe Sputnik will be well transmitted to an English-speaking audience and continue to attract audiences around the world with its compelling storyline.
We are determined to start filming and believe that we have some of the best partners in the film industry, able to rethink Yegor's idea, while remaining faithful to the development of the plot, ”said Gillian Apfelbaum, Executive Vice President of Feature Films at Village Roadshow Pictures.
She will oversee the project as a spokesperson for Village Roadshow Pictures.
Oksana Akinshina and Fyodor Bondarchuk in the movie "Sputnik"
© Still from the movie "Sputnik"
Sputnik became the first large Russian film to be released directly on online platforms during the self-isolation regime - people were sitting at home and the film was watched by an unprecedented number of people.
His release made a lot of noise both in Russia and around the world.
I am very proud that "Sputnik" has become a rare Russian film, which will be filmed in English, "- quotes the words of Fyodor Bondarchuk Deadline.
Bondarchuk not only worked on the tape as a producer, but also played one of the central roles in it.
The filmmaker joined the project at the stage of developing the idea.
Yegor Abramenko offered Bondarchuk to release a Russian tape similar to Alien during the filming of the film Attraction - where the young director directed the second film crew.
Fedor Bondarchuk got acquainted with the short film "Passenger" by Abramenko.
This project became the basis for a new film.
Shot from the movie "Sputnik"
© Still from the movie "Sputnik"
The international premiere of Sputnik took place at the Tribeca Festival in April 2020.
A few months later, American viewers were able to watch the tape online.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the picture was rated 71% by a wide audience.
Critics rated the film even higher: it received 89% positive reviews.
Sputnik has been nominated for a number of awards from various festivals and organizations.
The painting was included in the long list of the 2021 Golden Globe Awards, but it was not on the list of nominees.
Now the film claims to be the best film in a foreign language according to the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, which issues the Saturn Award.
Sputnik competed with the films Jojo Rabbit, Parasites, Nightingale, Whistlers and Dangerous Secrets.
In September 2020, Sputnik became the first Russian film to topped the American iTunes chart in the horror category.
At the same time, the tape turned out to be the first Russian project to enter the top 5 of the "cinema" section.
The Sputnik plot is centered on the story of the fictional cosmonaut Konstantin Veshnyakov (played by Pyotr Fyodorov).
He, along with his partner, recently visited space.
When returning to Earth, the partner died, and Veshnyakov was seriously injured.
The hero is sent for rehabilitation to a closed research institute on the territory of Kazakhstan.
The cosmonaut is under the supervision of doctors and scientists, and the head of the organization, Colonel Semiradov (Fyodor Bondarchuk), is also monitoring the process.
Since Veshnyakov claims that he does not remember anything about what happened, neurophysiologist Tatyana Klimova, performed by Oksana Akinshina, begins to work with him.
As it turns out, the astronaut brought a creepy alien creature from the mission.
It lives in Veshnyakov's body and comes out at night.
The alien feeds on cortisol, a stress hormone produced in humans.
It is stated that the story takes place in 1983, but it will take little time in the picture.