RAGNAROK IS COMING.... courtesy of Magnolia Pictures!

NORWEGIANS!

Just got a press release from Magnolia Pictures about a new film they have procured for North American distribution. Prior to this, they released a little Norwegian mockumentary you may have heard of called TROLL HUNTER (under their Magnet Releasing arm), so you can bet I'm totally ready to check out a flick that involves the Norse end of days scenario. Here's more info about the film:

US distributor Magnolia has acquired the Norwegian action-adventure film RAGNAROK from TrustNordisk.

Magnolia concluded the deal based on a 3-minute promo shown during the European Film Market in Berlin. The deal was negotiated between SVP of Acquisitions Dori Begley and Director of Acquisitions Peter van Steemburg from Magnolia and CEO Rikke Ennis and Head of Sales Susan Wendt from TrustNordisk.

"We are very excited about RAGNAROK, which has all the makings of a terrific action adventure. We are especially pleased to be working with our friends at TrustNordisk again to bring more great Scandinavian cinema to US audiences”, says President of Magnolia Pictures, Eamonn Bowles.

“I can’t recall having seen an action adventure film of this standard and production value coming out of Scandinavia. I am thrilled to have a partner like Magnolia aboard and can’t wait to present the film to the American audiences”, says Rikke Ennis, CEO at TrustNordisk.

Magnolia has previously released successful Norwegian films such as the thriller HEADHUNTERS (2011), based on the book by Jo Nesbø and TROLL HUNTER (2010). Lately Magnolia also acquired the rights for the upcoming Norwegian thriller PIONEER from TrustNordisk.

Norwegian Production Company Fantefilm which also produced THE COLD PREY-trilogy (2006, 2008, 2010) and ESCAPE (2012) is behind the upcoming large scale action-adventure film which stars actor Pål Sverre Hagen (KON-TIKI, 2012) as an archeologist obsessed with the Oseberg Viking ship. Convinced that the Oseberg ship contains the answer to the mystery of Ragnarok, the end of days in Norse mythology he mounts an expedition to “No Man’s Land” between Norway and Russia, which holds a secret more terrifying than he could possibly imagine.

Directed by Mikkel Sandemose (COLD PREY – THE BEGINNING, 2010) RAGNAROK is produced by Martin Sundland and Are Heidenstrøm for Fantefilm Fiksjon in co-production with Film i Väst, H. Aschehoug & Co, Ghost VFX and Tre Vänner with support from The Norwegian Film Institute, Nordic Film & TV Fund, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, The Swedish Film Institute, the MEDIA programme of the European Union and i2i Audiovisual.

Domestic distribution is handled by Nordisk Film with domestic release set for October 2013. TrustNordisk handles international sales.

The film is in the early stages of post-production, so there's no trailer or poster yet, and the Facebook page for the film was just started up this past Tuesday so that's pretty empty too. Even the IMDB page is light on details, except for the cast & crew of course. I'll be posting more info on this film as it is released. In the meantime, don your battle helms, reinforce your shields, sharpen your axes and swords, and prepare for RAGNAROK!