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TrustNordisk’s forthcoming creature feature Kraken, based on the legendary sea monster from Nordic folklore, has inked a pair of pillar distribution deals on the first day of Berlin’s European Film Market. The Norwegian-language action feature has been acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films for North America and Gussi for Latin America.

Directed by Norwegian filmmaker Pål Øie, known for his action-thriller Tunnel and the horror flick Hidden, Kraken tells the story of a marine biologist who encounters several strange occurrences while researching a fjord, including the brutal deaths of two local teenagers.

“At the bottom of Norway’s deepest fjord rests a mythical monster as large as a mountain, with a myriad of arms ready to crush and devour anything they can grab,” the film’s synopsis reads.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Samuel Goldwyn and Gussi for the release of Kraken in North and Latin America,...

Pal Oie is reuniting with the producers of his 2019 action thriller The Tunnel to direct the new Norwegian monster movie Kraken.

TrustNordisk is handling international sales for the thriller, starting at the European Film Market (EFM) at the Berlin Film Festival.

Kraken, now in development and targeting a late 2025 theatrical release, will be based on the tale of the legendary monster from the deep returning and set to wreak havoc.

There’s no word on casting, but the thriller will follow Johanne, a marine biologist who encounters several strange occurrences while researching a fjord, including the brutal deaths of two local teenagers. “At the bottom of Norway’s deepest fjord rests a mythical monster as large as a mountain, with a myriad of arms ready to crush and devour anything they can grab,” the film’s synopsis reads.

In Norway and Iceland, legend has it that the Kraken, a giant...

Though it will forever be associated with one brief mid-1970s heyday, the disaster-movie genre has made a stealth comeback in recent years, being a natural fit for a cinematic era dominated by CGI-laden action fantasies. Of course Hollywood has kept its hand in, with efforts like “San Andreas” and “Pompeii.” But there have also been parries as far afield as China, whose enjoyably ridiculous, volcano-centric “Skyfire” from late 2019 only reached the U.S. this year.

No country has been as assiduous in reviving that Charlton Heston spirit, however, as Norway — which has produced just three so far, but then that’s a not-inconsiderable share of its big-budget feature output in recent years. First there was the rockslide/avalanche/tsunami/flood whammy of 2015’s “The Wave,” then its self-explanatory 2018 sequel “The Quake.” Now there’s “The Tunnel,” unrelated to the aforementioned save that it obviously wouldn’t have been made...