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Beneath the Storm, the shark thriller from Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola, is now swimming into a 2026 release along with an updated title, Shiver, Deadline reports.

Shiver was originally set to release this summer on August 1. Now, the film is taking up prime real estate for shark horror by swimming into Independence Day weekend on July 3, 2026.

The holiday weekend calls the mother of all shark horror movies to mind: Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. The summer blockbuster turns 50 this year and famously took place over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, where a great white shark terrorized the beachside town of Amity.

Phoebe Dynevor (Fair Play), Whitney Peak (Hocus Pocus 2) and Djimon Hounsou (A Quiet Place: Part II) star in Shiver, produced by Adam McKay and Kevin Messick.

Plot details remain under wraps, of course, though the film’s new title is intriguing.

Wirkola is keeping busy; not only is Shiver on the way next year,...

In a series of changes to its slate of upcoming films, Sony has removed Legendary’s “Street Fighter” film adaptation, originally set for a March 20, 2026 debut, from its release calendar and shifted Tommy Wirkola’s shark thriller “Beneath the Storm,” now titled “Shiver,” from August 2025 to July 2026.

“Street Fighter” will be co-produced and developed by Capcom, the Japanese videogame developer who launched the original franchise in 1987, and Legendary, who scooped up the TV and film rights for the prolific game series in 2023. Further details about the film, such as plot, cast, director and writer, are all currently unknown.

If eventually rescheduled, this wouldn’t be the first time “Street Fighter” made its way to theaters. Universal produced a big screen adaptation of the game in 1994, which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na Wen and Raul Julia. In 2009, 20th Century Fox released its own spin on the franchise with “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li...

Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola is a favorite here on Bloody Disgusting, making a name for himself with the Dead Snow zombie comedies and then going on to direct Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, The Trip, and the Christmas action thriller Violent Night. Up next from Wirkola is something a little different: the adult animated sex comedy Spermageddon.

Directed by Tommy Wirkola and Rasmus A. Sivertsen, Spermageddon is being released in theaters in Norway this weekend, and we’ve got the trailer featuring English subtitles.

Wirkola tells Bd, “Really excited to finally set Spermageddon loose and see how audiences around the world take it in. It’s been an insane journey—now the real fun begins!”

Here’s the official synopsis: “Two narrative threads – one is an emerging love story between two awkward teens, Jens and Lisa, who are having sex for the first time and the other is an eventful...

An ominous placard hangs at one of the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s most charming venues this year. It reads, in Dutch, “Cinerama must stay,” inviting us to sign a petition to keep the municipality from demolishing the quaint Kinepolis Cinerama in central Rotterdam in order to make room for a more profitable enterprise.

The message stands in great contrast to the festival’s congenial atmosphere, for spelling trouble in an otherwise stress-free cocoon run with impeccable logistical prowess. For IFFR gives one that most precious, and perhaps naïve, feeling that even the most audacious curatorial eye would be immune to a profit-hungry system that surely exists everywhere else in the world.

The festival’s curatorial boldness has never felt so necessary, in the face of the American descent into some medieval hellhole that’s horrified Europe. Not that the region is immune to similar kinds of political projects, but...

‘Spermageddon’ is a 2024 Norwegian adult animated musical comedy directed by Tommy Wirkola and Rasmus A. Sivertsen. The movie follows two stories: a teenage couple having sex for the first time and a group of sperm, led by Simen the Semen, on a journey to reach the Egg.

The film has been compared to ‘Sausage Party’ and described as a mix of a road trip and an epic adventure, similar to ‘Lord of the Rings.’ It’s aimed at older kids and adults, with humor and style similar to ‘South Park’ and ‘Checkered Ninja.’

The cast of ‘Spermageddon’ features Aksel Hennie as Simen, a sperm living inside Jens, and Mathilde Storm as Cumilla, a female sperm also inside Jens. Nasrin Khusrawi and Christian Mikkelsen play Lisa and Jens, an awkward teenage couple experiencing their first time together.

Other characters include Bjørn Sundquist as Professor Saltsmak and Christian Rubeck as Jizzmo, a...

Musicals have had a tough run lately. Studios have been known to use clever (and sneaky) tactics to hide the fact that their movies are musicals entirely. Remember Wonka? But despite the negative stigma that the genre has carried in recent years, Wicked has defied the odds (and gravity) to become a box-office sensation and genuine crowd-pleaser. That’s great for Wicked and is a strong sign for musicals in general, but living in the giant shadow that Wicked cast are a slew of musicals that are arguably better than the Jon M. Chu directed hit.

Related The 20 Best Movies of 2024: From Marvel to Musicals 5. Spermageddon

Directed by Tommy Wirkola and Rasmus A. Sivertsen

A Norwegian animated musical about… sperm. Spermageddon is like a Pixar film for adults. Overflowing with puns and jokes related to the human anatomy, Spermageddon is one of the most unique and unforgettable musicals of the decade.

Nordic animation makers need to embrace “compassion, equality and inclusion,” Kool Produktion’s Frank Mosvold told Variety.

“As a gay producer, I’m alarmed by the growing negative attitude and harmful portrayals of the queer and trans communities in Europe, which is why I am developing ‘The Legend of Magnus the Good,’” he added, teasing the animated feature about “acceptance, regardless of gender and identity.”

In the film, Magnus’ father is the famous Viking king Olaf. When his uncle decides to steal the crown, the boy has to flee. He travels in time, landing in the middle of a drag show in Norway.

“It’s important to make something that’s important to you,” Mosvold said later, during Ffa’s panel Nordic Animation: How to Make New Classics. A son of a “very successful businessman,” he also had to deal with high expectations.

“With [previous animation] ‘Ella Bella Bingo,’ it was all...

Fantastic Fest 2024 kicks off in weather so hot it could make a killer clown melt.

That won’t scare away the right movie lovers from this buzzy genre film event — held every year at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas. It also won’t keep the most game among them from embracing the creepy circus theme tied to the event’s extra freaky 19th edition. However, the residual face paint and sweat could prove its own messy point at opening night’s Mac Sabbath concert.

An eight-day film festival exploring horror, sci-fi, fantasy, cult films, and more, this year’s Fantastic Fest runs from Thursday, September 19 to Thursday, September 26. Founded in 2005 by Tim League, the offbeat festival includes dozens of feature films, several shorts programs, two episodic premieres for TV, a notorious “debate” night (featuring a… boxing element?!), various live performances, and more. Fantastic Games also makes its inaugural...

Norwegian Violent Night director Tommy Wirkola has something other than holiday fear in store this year. As opposed to the blood-fueled, action-packed horror film that made its mark in the snow in 2022, Wirkolas new thriller will come splashing into theaters in 2025. Shark thriller Beneath the Storm is anticipated to be just as bloody and violent as his previous box office hit Violent Night, but with a seasonal switch-up thats different from Wirkolas other work.

Per Variety, Beneath the Storm will be released by Columbia Pictures and stars Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak, and Djimon Hounsou. Adam McKay and Kevin Messik will serve as the producers. Besides Violent Night, Wirkola is perhaps best known for directing films like Dead Snow, What Happened to Monday, and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. His most recent animated feature-length film, Spermageddon, was a hit at the 2024 Annecy Animation Festival.

Related Nobody 2 & Violent Night 2 Get Exciting...

Fantastic Fest is nearly here.

One of the very best, most underrated film festivals of the year, which takes place annually at a single movie theater in Austin, Texas (that’d be the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar), returns on Sept. 19. And ahead of the genre film festival, we’ve got the full lineup, which includes 28 world premieres, 23 international and North American premieres, and 15 U.S. premieres. (You can see the full list below.)

Among the movies playing at Fantastic Fest are “Never Let Go,” the new supernatural thriller from Alexandre Aja and actress Halle Berry; “Apartment 7A,” the “Rosemary’s Baby” prequel from Paramount; the Palme d’Or-winning thriller “Anora” from Sean Baker; A24’s bizarro “A Different Man;” and DreamWorks Animation’s beautiful, touching “The Wild Robot.” Other animated offerings include “Memoir of a Snail” from “Mary and Max” filmmaker Adam Elliot, and “Spermageddon” from “Violent Night” filmmaker Tommy Wirkola.

Filmmaker Tommy Wirkola’s ocean-set thriller starring Phoebe Dynevor is set to make a splash next summer.

Sony Pictures announced Wednesday that the previously untitled movie is now called Beneath the Storm and will hit theaters on Aug. 1, 2025. Plot details have not yet been shared for the project that is said to involve sharks.

Whitney Peak and Djimon Hounsou co-star in the film from producers Adam McKay and Kevin Messick.

Beneath the Storm will face off against Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys 2, which also opens Aug. 1 — and coincidentally features an anthropomorphic shark among its lead characters. The voice cast for the animated sequel includes Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina and Zazie Beetz.

Wirkola is known for helming such films as Dead Snow, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, What Happened to Monday and Violent Night. His irreverent animated feature Spermageddon premiered at the...

Norway really saw Seth Rogen make the most unlikely and inappropriate movie-turned-series with Sausage Party and said, “Hold my lutefisk.”

Last week, Rogen and Amazon Prime Video launched Sausage Party: Foodtopia, the even more crass and heavy-handed social critique sequel series to his 2016 film that many of us thought was a collective hallucination from a combination of food poisoning and overindulgence on dank. As such, Sausage Party: Foodtopia opened with a second enormous food orgy that has many critics and viewers wondering exactly where the series can go from here on its quest to make the most upsetting cartoon porn out of Pixar-esque animation.

The answer, apparently, is in Northern Europe, where a Norwegian animated musical comedy film called — seriously — Spermageddon just found a French distributor following a successful premiere at the annual Annecy Film Festival. In his film, Spermageddon director Tommy Wirkola, whose previous credits include Dead Snow...

You’ve probably seen some weird movies, but get ready for one that’s truly out there – “Spermageddon!” This animated musical comedy caused a stir at the Annecy Film Festival this year, and now it’s found a home in France thanks to Originals Factory.

Originals Factory is known for putting out boundary-pushing films that aren’t afraid to be different, like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “The Whale.” They’ll handle getting “Spermageddon” into French theaters.

Directed by Tommy Wirkola (of “Dead Snow” zombie movie fame) and Rasmus A. Sivertsen (“Louis and Luca” cartoons), it follows a teenage couple’s first time together. But that’s not all – it also shows two sperm cells journeying to find an egg! There are musical numbers and tons of talking sperm, too. Inspired by weird shows like “South Park” and “Sausage Party,” it aims to make people laugh while tackling mature topics.

“Spermageddon,” the Norwegian animated sex musical comedy that became one of the most talked about titles at this year’s Annecy Film Festival, has been acquired for France.

Originals Factory, the distributor that has released the likes of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Whale” and “20 Days in Mariupol,” has picked up the film, which has already been bought for territories around the world following its premiere last month. Charades has been handling sales.

Directed by Tommy Wirkola and Rasmus A. Sivertsen (the “Louis and Luca” franchise), “Spermageddon” — described as “crude and heartwarming” by the filmmakers — tells the story of a teenage couple experiencing their first time and two sperm cells on a fateful journey to find the egg. Inspired by the likes of “South Park” and “Sausage Party,” the raunchy film features musical numbers and a whole load of talking sperm cells.

“‘Spermageddon’ marks our first step into feature animation,...

Una película animada para adultos inspirada en producciones como ‘South Park’ o ‘La Fiesta de las Salchichas’. © Annecy

“Spermageddon”, la película comedia musical animada protagonizada por espermatozoides atrapados en el cuerpo de un adolescente que se estrenó en el Festival de Annecy, llegará a los cines de España gracias a YouPlanet Pictures.

Orientada a un público juvenil y adulto, “Spermageddon” sigue a los adolescentes Jens y Lisa, que están a punto de experimentar su primera relación sexual. Dentro del cuerpo de Jens, el Spermageddon se acerca, un evento para el que el espermatozoide Simon, el Semen y sus amigos han estado preparándose duramente. En esta carrera donde solo puede ganar uno, deberán sortear todo tipo de obstáculos inesperados que les harán la vida imposible.

“Spermageddon” está dirigida por Rasmus A. Sivertsen (“Tres Ladrones y un León”) y Tommy Wirkola (“Zombis Nazis”).

El equipo de la película se ha inspirado en...

Somewhere between Sausage Factory and the world’s most inappropriate sex ed class lies Spermageddon, an animated feature from Norway that turns one of the body’s fluids into a gross-out comic spectacle. If you didn’t know that sperm cells could sing, dance, read science textbooks and make lots of butt jokes, well now you know.

Hatched from the minds of director Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow, The Trip) and animator Rasmus A. Sivertsen (Bold Eagles), the movie is both an illustrative teaching tool for adolescents curious about the inner workings of their private parts, and a button-pushing, secretion-shooting exploitation flick aiming to get laughs out of everything from masturbation to contraception to the formation of bowel movements.

Premiering in Annecy’s Midnight Special section, Spermageddon will play best with the kind of rowdy late night audience looking for a good time, both on the screen and perhaps off it.

Spermageddon is a wild animated musical that aims to demystify sex for teenagers, blending innocence and adult themes. Co-directors Wirkola and Silversten faced surprise and challenges getting the movie made due to its risqu content. European studios were more open to funding Spermageddon, reflecting differing cultural attitudes towards sex compared to Hollywood.

Prepare to witness a movie so risqu and bizarre that even its filmmakers are surprised they were allowed to make it. Titled Spermageddon, this animated musical follows two awkward teenagers, Jen and Lisa, who have sex for the first time. Co-directed by Tommy Wirkola (Violent Night) and Rasmus A. Silversten (Louis & Luca: The Big Cheese Race), the film takes the perspective of Simon the Semen, one of Jen's sperm, as he undertakes a perilous journey to find Lisa's egg. Yep. You read that right.

Spermageddon debuted at the Annecy Animation Festival, and Variety has released a clip of the movie online.

As Annecy premiere “Spermageddon” continues to rack up sales, even its makers are surprised they got away with its risqué subject matter.

“When we finally got to make it, there were times when I was looking at the screen, thinking: ‘How the hell did we get this movie made?!’” said Tommy Wirkola, who co-directed with Rasmus A. Sivertsen.

“We made it in Europe – that’s how. Years ago, I pitched it in Hollywood and it never went anywhere. When it comes to sex, it’s more delicate over there.”

In the film – sold by Charades and debuting an exclusive clip with Variety – two teenagers have sex for the very first time, unaware the sperm cells are readying for their perilous journey. But despite some suggestive content, “Spermageddon” is not just for grownups.

“We would say it’s like ‘Inside Out’ for adults, but we didn’t want it to be...

The “Spermageddon” is coming.

Leading indie sales agent Charades has closed a deal with Square One Entertainment for rights to the CG-animated film for Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Co-directed by Rasmus A. Sivertsen and “Dead Snow” helmer Tommy Wirkola, it’s premiering at Annecy this week.

“When my colleague Michael Müllner and I acquired ‘Spermageddon,’ on paper, we expected a weighty documentary on the declining male fertility rates globally,” admitted Al Munteanu of Square One Entertainment.

“Sperm counts around the world have halved over the past 50 years, the biggest causes of deterioration being pollution, smoking, and age. Some experts call this phenomenon ‘spermageddon’: an armageddon of male fertility. Too late did we realize that this film was, in fact, not Tommy Wirkola’s documentary, but the funniest animation movie we have ever seen.”

“Now, as we cannot stop laughing, we need to rejig our marketing plan.”

“Spermageddon” had previously...

What rhymes with sperm in Norwegian?

“Quite a few, actually, we got lucky in that respect,” says Tommy Wirkola, whose new film, Spermageddon, is an animated musical about sex and conception, told from the perspective of the spermatozoa. “You’d be surprised how many words you can find that rhyme, and how many variations and puns you can come up with.”

Horror fans know Wirkola for his 2009 Scandinavian splatterfest Dead Snow, which introduced Nazi zombies on ski patrols into the world of cinema, and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, a campy, violent take on the Grimm’s fairy tale featuring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton.

Spermageddon, as Monty Python would say, is something completely different. Co-directed with fellow Norwegian Rasmus A. Sivertsen, the movie follows the adventures of two awkward teens, Jens and Lisa, who decide to have sex for the first time, and the related quest of Simon the Semen,...