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EXCLUSIVE: Chris Columbus’ 1492 Pictures has partnered with CJ Entertainment & Media to acquire remake rights to the 2010 Andre Ovredal-directed Norwegian film Troll Hunter. Marc Haimes is set to write the script. Deal comes just as Magnolia opens the original Troll Hunter in the US and on VOD.
The documentary-style film is about a group of students whose investigation into a series of mysterious bear killings leads to something sinister. They wind up following and documenting a mystery man who turns out to be a troll hunter. Columbus will produce with 1492 partners Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe, and CJ Entertainment. Filmkameratene AS’s John M. Jacobsen (who produced the original) will also be a producer along with his partner Sveinung Golimo.
“Troll Hunter was a visceral, thrilling, cinematic rock and roller coaster ride of a movie. Visually, there are scenes in this film that American audiences have never seen. We want to introduce an international audience to this amazing moviegoing experience,” said Columbus.
Columbus’ 1492 set up the film through its three-year development deal with CJ Entertainment & Media. They just acquired screen rights to Michael Koryta’s The Cypress House (Columbus will write that script) as well as a remake of the Korean pic Hello Ghost and Temple Stay with director JK Youn.
Haimes is writing Jitters at Paramount and Elevator Man at Summit.
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Does any one know, will this acquisition have any effect on this films release in US theaters? I know its on VOD right now but was waiting to watch it on the big screen.
It’s coming out today in some theaters, so you should have a chance to see it.
“Visually, there are scenes in this film that American audiences have never seen.”
Well, there is a cure for that, Columbus. They could, you know, go see it.
It did come out over the weekend in ONE theatre and posted about $5,500 total.
uhmmmmm……maybe you better re-THINK the RE-make!!
just sayin…..
Troll Hunter was pretty darn good. A remake is completely unnecessary.
I agree Gibbs, how do you remake a really good movie, before it’s even done it’s theatre run? I knew hollywood lost all orginality years ago, but they are starting to sink to a new level, by making remakes of 5 month old movies??? SMH
I agree Gibbs, the Troll Hunter still has that new car smell to it, sort of like THE GIRL with the dragon tattoo “REMAKE”. I’ve known for awhile Hollywood has lost all orginality, but this sinks to a new level. How do you remake 6month old movies??SMH
I third you, Gibbs. ‘”We want to introduce an international audience to this amazing moviegoing experience,” said Columbus.’ Translation: “We’re not going to let them have the chance to see the superb original, but we’re going to flood the market with our dumbed-down, sentimentalised-up, massively expensive, effects-laden version instead.”
Flood the market? How can a movie not even in pre-production flood the market and overshadow a movie you can buy on VOD right now or go see in a theater soon. It can’t. But most people, probably including those here, won’t pay to see the original. As someone who releases foreign film, I appreciate how they are backed in forums by people who hate remakes, yet hardly anyone pays to see the originals. I would love for people to put the money where the rhetoric is.
BTW, you guys do know that creatively bankrupt Hollywood is not the only film industry that makes remakes, right? And how many people went to see films like “Paul” (an original film that had a big budget) or “The Beaver” (which was an amazing original script and if you put aside Mel’s negative PR a pretty good film as well) or any number of original projects that didn’t originate from a prior source? How many of you will go see Woody Allen’s new film this weekend as opposed to “Hangover 2″? Just curious…
Really? Why? Maybe in 10 years, but not now. This film is very well done.
Why? Why? Why is it necessary to remake an already great movie with scenes ‘American audiences have never seen’ when they can just widely release the original (and dare I say, WITH subtitles)? Other countries are capable of making films too.
Why not just screen it in international theatres ? Buy the rights or whatever to allow that and we will see the original, and no doubt better version anyway.
That’s got to be cheaper right ?
Magnolia already did this, is releasing it, and you can buy it on VOD right now. But your assertion that “we will see the original” is not backed by box office numbers, which show that for foreign film most people won’t see them (at least not legally), which is why it is playing in indie theaters and not the big chains.
wow, just watched the trailer and…
all these comments can’t be about the same thing i just watched-
lame blair witch setup and super fake looking trolls that move like, well, super fake looking trolls
it needs a re-make to just to make the trolls look real enough to be scary vs. laughable
Actually I thought the quality of the effects looked very good, especially for the budget. The problem for you I am guessing is probably how the trolls look, not the effects quality. If you didn’t think they looked scary or grotesque enough it may be because you don’t understand the background – the trolls are made to look like the illustrations that have been in childrens books in Norway for 100 years, and they captured them perfectly. They are hyper-real and freaky ala Alien or something more modern but have the look that all Norwegians have grown up with.
I meant “aren’t hyper-real…”
I watched the movie on the movie channels and actually watched it six times I thought it was great and enjoyed it more each time as I would be able to catch it all and not miss anything. I’m an elderly lady and I loved it and am in Canada. No remake is needed, why should someone else capitalize on someone else’s idea.
So, you saw the trailer, which gave you enough of the film to reach a sweeping conclusion?
I actually watched the film. It’s something I recommend before blathering on in ignorance.
It’s a fantastic film. The trolls are well done. It’s also not a “scary” film and is not intended to be one. The tone is brilliant.
Congrats on your conclusions, even though they are about as horribly wrong as one can get.
I’d love to know your insights on the Aliens trailer.
I look forward to Hollywood destroying this movie for geniuses like Claude.
Agree 110%!!
I watched this film on a whim late one night on comcast on demand, and was completely BLOWN AWAY! It is nothing short of brilliant. The remake will end up just like the remake of the also brilliant “Let the right one in.”… Fodder..
Hey Da,
For this comment,”I look forward to Hollywood destroying this movie for geniuses like Claude”, your next beer is on me.
Cheers!
I trailer is not a movie. Gene Siskel tended to avoid them and Roger Ebert considers it nothing more than marketing that often is out of the original filmmaker’s hand.
I already seen ‘Trollhunter’ – superb little movie with some damn impressive SFX considering it’s budget. There’s no need to remake it..
All this hand-wringing over remakes and the lack of creativity in Hollywood, please. Every time a remake is announced the message boards go into a frenzy. Well, if enough of the armchair critics actually paid to watch a foreign film, they wouldn’t do remakes, they’d re-release the original. But they don’t. I know, I work for a company who releases them and we’re dying. Some may see the original by downloading it or something, but how many of you ponied up the money to see Trollhunter on VOD? And this will not halt the cinema release of it, Magnolia had that planned out months ahead of time and “Hollywood” doesn’t really have the ability to do that anyway. If anything this helps because this raises awareness of the film.
You guys don’t understand. Everyone, not just Hollywood, has been doing this since cinema began. Other people used to rip-off George Melies all the time. “Nosferatu” was an un-authorized rip-off of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” novel. Many classic TV and movies are remakes. You just didn’t know most of this before the internet. CJ remakes films for the Korean market all the time (they just did John Woo’s “A Better Tomorrow” last year). Half of Hong Kong’s and India’s films are ham-fisted rip-offs of other peoples films. Zhang Yimou’s last film was a Coen Brothers remake. And on and on. “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is a bad example by the way, because the rights for those books were sold to US companies and Swedish companies at almost the same time, it just takes the Hollywood machine longer to get things done and the Swedes beat them to it. Those are not remakes of the Swedish films but remakes of the book just as the Swedish films are, they had the book rights before the Swedish films were produced.
The fact is that people in every market will prefer to see home grown product, 99% of Americans won’t see the original, not because of a conspiracy or xenophobia, but because Hollywood is the premier filmmaking industry, Americans have never needed to look elsewhere for entertainment, as opposed to if you lived in Latvia or something. All over the world people are watching TV shows that are remakes of US product – “Bewitched” in Japan, “The Nanny” in Russia and as proof of the decline of western civilizaton, even the godawful “Jersey Shore” in England.
You want less remakes – pay to see the originals. When foreign films become profitable they will give them wide releases. That is how it works in every country, not just America – if it makes money it gets done.
P.S. And if these guys have half a brain, they won’t do this remakes with Trolls, they’ll do it with a local legend, like Bigfoot or a Chupacabra or something, not a folk creature from another country.
The only way to make it convincing as an American film is to set in Minnesota. The only state with enough Norwegian population and enough wilderness to make the idea of trolls in the US believable.
But I don’t think filmmakers like to film in the Midwest. They will probably stick in Nevada.
troll hunter was freaking awesome but I think this idea blows. Anyone remember “Let the right one in” and “let me in”… Ask Hammer if they ever made their money back yet?
Saw this on On Demand Cable (also played on the big screen in LA at the same time)…SUCKED…makes “Paranormal Activity 2″ (or even “Blair Witch 2″..or was it 3) look like “Citizen Kane”. Inept staging and camerawork, passable VFX, but absolutely ridiculous story and borderline acting (though the Norwegian language might have blunted the performances).
Don’t see what Columbus (though he hasn’t done a “good” movie in ages) sees in this. I would remake the (American) horror B indie “Rubber” (killer sentient telekinetic TIRE; also making the rounds on On Demand) over this crap any day.
Interesting that you mention Rubber. I was intrigued by the concept but felt like it lost steam and overextended in its length. The filmmaker must have taken a David Lynch master class because it felt weird for the sake of being weird. The tire’s power was interesting but I definitely think if you change the window dressing around the film (yeah, I know people like fourth-wall breaking, post-modern commentary, and surrealism but I like tires blowing stuff up), it can be accessible.
You clearly missed the point of the whole film. Congratulations.
The problem with Troll Hunter is that a lot of the jokes are Norwegian in-jokes. For instance, the power pylons have been a source of debate for years in Norway (people don’t want them in the National parks etc). Also, the Polish painter is basically redoing a well-known (in Norway) comedy skit from the 60′s.
So redoing it may not be a bad idea, providing they shoot it in Norway and keep reasonably close to the original Troll Lore.
It has to be remade because some Americans are so insular that they can’t stand to hear English in another accent, let alone a whole different language.
I will just look for the original, thank you very much. Chris Columbus lost his cachet in the 90s.
troll hunter needs to be remade. the original is not really that good. not scary at all.
Saw it at a film festival. I want my two hours back. It was awful. Total Blair witch knockoff. Made me nauseous to watch. Subtitles over a shaking camera with a shattered lens are impossible to read without getting sick. They show the troll about fifteen minutes in. After that there is no reason to watch the rest. I have no idea why anyone would like the original and I have no interest in a remake.
A lot of foreigners seem to have completely missed the point of the whole film. It’s not supposed to be Blair Witch or whatever. It’s a thriller/comedy. A film that doesn’t take itself seriously.
Dont America have their own myth or legends?
Native Americans maybe have som good stories they can turn into a movie. Why will they take onto Norwegian Trolls?
Well I hope they too study the old drawings and paintings of Trolls so they get an idea..
The movie is awesome. The story and the visuals go together very well. The trolls look perfect for the movie.my fear is that the american remake will over due the trolls with cgi and completely destroy the story
Dear Chris Columbus,
I didn’t think that you would be the kind of guy to jump aboard the ‘let’s remake European films weeks after their release’ bandwagon. Look at what happened to Let Me In and REC, they were both pale imitations of the originals.
Wouldn’t it make a hell of alot more sense to distirbute the original and give it a US theatrical release? Can US audiences not get their heads around a different culture on screen? Can they not watch amazing action sequences and read subtitles at the same time?
Man up.
Jon
For everyone harping on the guy who bought the rights to remake the film, don’t forget he was SOLD those rights by the guys who made the original…
If I have to explain this further America really is retarded .
What better way to honor a truly awesome and original foreign film than to make a shitty American remake.
Let the Right One In / Let Me In was done pretty darn well, and not nearly as far apart as this combo will be.
Don’t worry, it’s going to be shit. Just like all the other US remakes of non-US films have been (E.g. The Wicker Man, The Ring, The Italian Job and so on).
I havn’t watched the original yet but was surprised to hear that an American re-make will happen soon . . . but, at the end of the day I think the re-make is because of one main reason: Americans and other native English speakers DO NOT generally watch movies in sub-titles. Non English speakers are used to watching American or British films that are either dubbed or sub-titled into their native language so it’s no big deal for them. The native English speaking movie market in countries like the US, the UK and Australia is huge, in the States alone most movies make at least half their international box office totals. The highest grossing foreign language film in the United States so far is “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” with $128 million, followed by “Life Is Beautiful” $57 mil, “Hero” $53 mil “Pan’s Labyrinth” $37 mil, “Amelie” $33 mil. A big American blockbuster version of Trollhunters if successful could easily make up to $400 mil in the American box office alone, more than 3 times what Crouching Tiger accomplished.
Unfortunately the majority of moviegoers are just too lazy to watch movies with subtitles, that’s why in Germany and France etc everything is dubbed and in smaller countries like Netherlands and Denmark etc they have no choice but to put up with subtitles because the local market isn’t large enough to afford dubbing. I don’t really think an American big budget CGI laden blockbuster remake of a small low-budget indie Norwegian film is all that bad of an idea. If they do manage to transfer at least some of the ideas and imagery of the original film then it WILL be bringing them to a whole new and much, much larger audience. Whether they do a decent job of it or not is something that is yet to be seen of course . . .