Entertainment One is in negotiations to acquire North American theatrical rights to Nazi sci-fi comedy Iron Sky.
The Finnish-German-Australian co-production, which had its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival this week, will also be distributed in Israel by Shoval, the filmmakers said.
The film has made headlines for its unusual funding structure – about €1 million of its €7.5 million budget was crowdsourced from fans. The official trailer's 5+ million views on YouTube in less than a week outpaced trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man and Battleship, the filmmakers said.
"It feels great to beat these films that have already spent more on marketing that the entire budget of Iron Sky," director Timo Vuorensola said in a statement. "I see it as a sign of democratisation of entertainment, where the internet means a Finnish film can capture the interest of the viewing public. This is a victory to all European and independent filmmakers, and it's all thanks to our active online community."
While the Berlin premiere was a sellout, critical response was mixed.
“Iron Sky is for sure an audience film; we've been ending every screening here in Berlin with huge ovations, and the theaters are packed," Iron Sky producer Tero Kaukomaa also said in a statement. "We came to Berlin with a Nazi comedy, ruled the headlines, made people fight for their tickets and angered some critics along the way. Veni, Vidi, Vici.”
The film will now be shown at the South by Southwest Film Festival. It will be released in Australia by Hoyts later this year.
Contact this reporter at bswift@www.if.com.au or on Twitter at @bcswift.