Finland: Last News

EXCLUSIVE: Prime Video Nordics is pushing heavily into the Scandinavian unscripted originals market, unveiling a handful of reality shows at a splashy event in Sweden today. The streamer has also struck a multi-territory movie output deal with Nordisk Film for the likes of John Wick: Chapter 4 and The Hunger Games prequel, we can reveal.

Finland international Glen Kamara is out for Rangers with an ankle knock but could be back against Napoli. Ridvan Yilmaz is a doubt with Ryan Jack, Connor Goldson, Filip Helander, John Souttar, Ianis Hagi and Tom Lawrence are out.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent It’s pitch dark and stormy and Pelle Heikkilä, one of Finland’s biggest stars, is getting slammed by massive waves in a 10-meter-deep water tank. The shoot of “Estonia,” a Scandinavian limited series about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster, is underway in Belgium at an indoor water stage. The eight-part cinematic show, which is budgeted at €15 million ($14.7 million) and is being shopped by Jan Mojto’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”) at Mipcom, charts the sinking of the MS Estonia on Sept. 28, 1994, which killed over 850 people. The series is directed by Swedish director Måns Månsson (“The Real Estate,” “Chernobyl”) and Finnish director Juuso Syrjä (“Bordertown,” “Helsinki Syndrome”), who are polar opposites, one coming from festival-friendly auteur filmmaking, the other coming from high-end commercials.

Babymetal have been confirmed as the support for Sabaton‘s upcoming 2023 tour – see dates below and find tickets here.The news comes as the Japanese duo announced details of a new album called ‘The Other One’ earlier this month, bringing their hiatus to an end.Babymetal will join Finnish metal band Lordi on the UK and European leg of Sabaton’s ‘Tour To End All Tours’. The 2023 dates kick off in Leeds in April, finishing up in Kuopio in Finland on May 20.“We are extremely happy to welcome Babymetal to our already much anticipated tour in Europe 2023,” Sabaton bassist Pär Sundström said in a statement.

The Northern Lights are considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

Hollywood star Brad Pitt, 58, has explained how taking up sculpting helped him to channel his “pain” following his divorce from ex-wife Angelina Jolie, 47.The Bullet Train actor recently debuted his first ever collection of sculpture at an art gallery in Finland, marking a move away from focusing solely on his acting career.Brad has recalled bonding with artist Thomas Houseago back in 2016 over their “mutual misery”, several months after officially splitting from Eternals actress Angelina.The pair were both dealing with difficult personal issues at the time, but Brad explained how their “mutual misery” had ultimately transformed into a “flame of joy”. Brad met Thomas at a New Year's Eve party in 2016 and, while the Fight Club star was dealing with the breakdown of his marriage, the pair had also both faced problems with alcohol in the past. “Our mutual misery became comic,” Brad reflected. “And out of this misery came a flame of joy in my life.

Marta Balaga Fifth Season has acquired international distribution rights to Elisa Viihde original series “The Man Who Died.” The company, formerly known as Endeavor Content, is behind “The Lost Daughter” or “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” It also handles global distribution for such hit shows as “Killing Eve,” “The Morning Show” or “Normal People.”  Based on the bestselling book by Antti Tuomainen, the six-episode series is led by Jussi Vatanen, who will next be seen in Aki Kaurismäki’s upcoming feature “Dead Leaves.” Saara Kotkaniemi and Sara Soulié, his co-star in Solar Films’ drama “Forest Giant,” also star.   

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Australia’s SLR Productions has announced production on season two of the award-winning original CGI animated series, “Space Nova” for ABC ME. The 15 x 22-minute season has received significant production funding from both Screen Australia and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation as well as development funding from ABC ME and Create NSW. “Space Nova” will be co-produced with Giggle Garage in Malaysia and distributed internationally by ZDF Studios, with ACTF representing the series across Australia and New Zealand. Targeting a six- to ten-year-old global audience, the first season sold to broadcasters or streamers in Germany, the U.K., Norway, Finland, Sweden, Poland, the U.S, Singapore, East Asia, Indonesia, and Brazil.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Limonero Films, an independent boutique distributor of factual programming and documentaries, is launching a selection of documentaries and factual entertainment series at the Mipcom TV market. The titles are “Women Behind the Wheel,” produced by Dartmouth Films in the U.K., the wildlife titles “Wild Icons of Iberia” and “Heroines of the Savannah,” both by Azor Productions in Spain, “The Baby Makers,” from Mediacorp in Singapore, and “Shepherds of the Earth,” by Guerrilla Films in Finland. In “Women Behind the Wheel,” two 22 year-olds drive 3,500 miles along the Pamir highway to meet the women of Central Asia coping with the changes in their society since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Liza Foreman “Artemis Fowl” writer Eoin Colfer’s first live action original project was amongst news announced during this year’s MipJunior Keynote from BBC Studios’ Kids & Family head Cecilia Persson. With over 25 million copies of the “Artemis Fowl” series sold, the author’s new project is being written in collaboration with screenwriter Viko Nikci.  The idea “combines a gripping high-stakes mystery with a fun gang of unlikely young heroes,” in this sci-fi series which combines action, comedy and multiple plot twists,” according to a BBC statement.   

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Eric Welbers, who served as managing director of the production company NDF until the end of March, has set up the internationally focused content company Bravado Media, with headquarters in Munich. Bravado has acquired all of NDF’s shares in Italy’s Viola Film (an 80% stake), headed by Alessandro Passadore, and Belgium-based Bravado Fiction (also an 80% stake), headed by Jan Theys, and Welbers is increasing his stake in NDF Intl. Production, which he will continue to run together with Matthias Walter. The new company will make its first market appearance at next week’s trade fair for audiovisual content Mipcom in Cannes.

Brad Pitt has recounted taking up sculpting in the aftermath of his contentious split from Angelina Jolie.The actor, 58, who recently debuted his first-ever collection of sculpture at an art gallery in Finland, recalled bonding with artist Thomas Houseago back in 2016 over their 'mutual misery', several months after officially splitting from Angelina.The duo were both grappling with heavy issues at the time, but Brad told the Financial Times their 'mutual misery' ultimately turned into a 'flame of joy.'   'Out of this misery came a flame of joy in my life': Brad Pitt has recounted taking up sculpting in the aftermath of his contentious split from Angelina Jolie (pictured with Nick Cave, left, and Thomas Houseago, centre)'Our mutual misery became comic,' Pitt, who met Houseago at a New Year's Eve party in 2016, told the publication. 'And out of this misery came a flame of joy in my life.

Brad Pitt opened up about how he dealt with life following his messy split from ex-wife Angelina Jolie. Pitt, 58, spoke about how his friendship with singer Nick Cave and sculptor Thomas Houseago bloomed in the wake of the divorce announcement.  The "Bullet Train" actor first met Cave on set of "Johnny Suede" in 1991. Houseago was added to the trio in 2016 after Pitt met him at a New Year's Eve party.

Ed Meza @edmezavar U.S. streaming service Topic has inked an exclusive U.S. and Canadian rights deal with Germany’s Beta Film for four European crime series ahead of this year’s Mipcom TV programming mart in Cannes. Dedicated to crime and suspense, Topic, part of First Look Entertainment, picked up the third season of critically acclaimed Austrian-German series “Pagan Peak”; Finnish title “Helsinki Syndrome”; “Silent Road” from Greece; and Croatian-Ukrainian co-production “The Silence.” The agreement also includes renewals of Italian political thriller “1992” and follow-up seasons “1993” and “1994.” Described as Italy’s “House Of Cards,” the show  examines how Italian politics were shaken to the core by a major criminal investigation against widespread corruption in the 1990s.

A Discovery of Witches’ Teresa Palmer and Steven Cree reunite in Finnish director Taneli Mustonen’s horror mystery.

EXCLUSIVE: German TV dramas are continuing to sell internationally ahead of Mipcom Cannes.

Taskmaster is in development at Paramount.As reported by Variety, Taskmaster Australia will be produced by Avalon Television with Kevin & Co for Network 10.The series, set to be released next year, will be hosted by comedian and writer Tom Gleeson, alongside Tom Cashman.Taskmaster has been adapted for various countries since it originally debuted in the UK in 2015, including New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Canada.Alex Horne, who originally created the format and co-hosts the UK version, is an executive producer on the Australian series, alongside Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, James Taylor, Jon Thoday and Andy Devonshire.The UK version is currently in its fourteenth series on Channel 4, co-hosted by Greg Davies.

Sponsors are threatening to walk away from the Glasgow Clan after they signed a player facing an alleged rape charge.

Gio van Bronckhorst will be looking to avoid a recurrence of the ignominy he suffered at Anfield in his only appearance there when Rangers take to Merseyside on Tuesday evening.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Jalmari Helander hasn’t made a feature since 2014’s “Big Game,” then the most expensive Finnish film to date. It was an unabashed, bombastic, good-humored action crowd-pleaser that indeed pleased crowds — at festivals, while mysteriously failing to catch on with general audiences. Presumably his concept was just too “high” for mainstream viewers to swallow: Though they don’t have any problem with Gerard Butler or Will Smith doing similar honors, it seemed too much to accept a 13-year-old Finn boy singlehandedly rescuing the president of the United States from an obstacle course of assassination peril.  That failure must have hurt; Helander has spent the interim on episodic work. His new “Sisu” is, in many ways, cut from the same cloth as “Big Game” as a splashy popcorn action piece unconcerned with credibility, pushing well-worn ideas to outlandish, and outrageously entertaining, ends. But the writer-director has hedged his bets by moving one key piece in the game to the opposite end of the board. This time, instead of a juvenile protagonist that made viewers wonder whether they were watching a movie for kids or for grown-ups (the answer “both” apparently confused them), we get a crusty coot quite spry enough to take on all foes. Which bad guys might pretty much be termed “the entire Third Reich.” 

Braehead-based Glasgow Clan have suspended top officials after they signed a player facing an alleged rape charge.