A few hundred artists from gaming powerhouses Rovio (Angry Birds), Supercell (Clash of Clans) and independent start-ups in Finland are collaborating on an epic film trilogy based on the ancient story of The Kalevala, part of Finnish folklore.
Details of the ambitious feature project in development Iron Danger, and a teaser trailer were revealed on Tuesday during Helsinki’s ‘Slush’ start-up event reuniting techno talents, Eurasian innovative start-ups and top-tier international investors and media executives.
According to a press statement, the film is being produced independently by the artists in their free time. It started to take shape when Sami Timonen, a games graphic designer came up with the idea of a monumental epic movie tale that would bring together friends and colleagues from the gaming and entertainment industry in Finland. He was later joined by Angry Birds writer Lauri Konttori, and Tokyo-born Finnish producer Ariyuki Suzuki (pictured). The goal is the release the first instalment of the trilogy in 2017 to coincide with the celebration of Finland’s 100th anniversary of independence.
Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio’s marketing director and Mikko Kodisoja, co-founder of Supercell are helping promote Iron Danger, but ‘they are not financing the project at the moment’, explained Zriyuki Suzuki to nordiskfilmogtvfond.com.
Nevertheless, Vesterbacka detailed the scale of the project and his vision for the epic project to YLE: “We are looking to attain a Hollywood standard with this production, so it will be big budget. We want to make a world-class spectacle.“ He said the new take on The Kalevala would be ‘very game-like and contemporary’, similar in style to The Empire Strikes Back.
Rovio is currently involved in the production of the Angry Birds animated movie in collaboration with Sony set to be delivered in 2016.
Watch the teaser trailer for The North Will Rise: Iron Danger - click here.