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Spearheading a new strategy to grow an international slate, Israel-based Yes Studios has picked up “Haze,” an Icelandic crime series produced and created by Sigurjón Kjartansson.

The eight-part drama stars Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, whose acting credits include “Succession” and “Game of Thrones.”

Produced by Kjartansson’s banner S800, “Haze” has already been commissioned by Icelandic broadcaster Ruv. Filming will begin this Summer for an expected delivery in 2026.

Yes Studios has boarded international distribution rights for the series and also holds rights for the scripted format. The company will formally launch the series to buyers at next week’s Content London where it’s expected to kick off pre-sales.

Kjartansson previously co-wrote and executive produced some of Iceland’s biggest titles, “Trapped” and “Katla,” both helmed by Baltasar Kormákur. For “Haze,” he has assembled a topnotch creative team, including producer Erlinger Jack Gudmundsson, writers Gagga Jonsdottir (“Trapped”) and David Mar Stefansson...

We know that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather trilogy is considered to be the zenith of mafia films. There have been other great titles such as Goodfellas, One Upon a Time in America, Scarface or Heat, but The Godfather trilogy (especially the first two movies) is something else. It is, without a doubt, peak cinema.

This trilogy set the scene for the story of the Corleone family, and while it was inspired by the books by Mario Puzo, the franchise is considered to be a faithful and accurate depiction of the life in mafia families, as well as the world of mafia in general.

Now, we can confirm that a new mafia-themed movie is on its way and it is going to be titled Corleone. The movie will begin production next year and we can also confirm that it has found its director. If you’re curious about the movie,...

Exclusive: Swedish director Amir Chamdin, whose drama Partisan won Best Series at the 2020 Canneseries market, has signed on to direct Corleone, an action-thriller set in the United States and Sicily.

Written by Sandro Lorino, Rich Ronat and Nate Adams, the film is based on a story by Sandro Lorino and and Antonio Lorino, and tells the story of a family man with a mysterious past, whose peaceful life is upended when he becomes entangled in a deathly cat-and-mouse game with the first female boss of the Cosa Nostra.

Production is being lined up for March, with casting currently underway. The film is being produced by Richard Salvatore (Stolen Girl), Nate Adams (Vanquish), and Sandro Lorino and Norbert Krott for Lorino Pictures. Executive producers include Fabio Costabile (Skincare) and Dirk Schweitzer (Operation Napoleon).

Chamdin most recently directed ballet Gustavia, which premiered at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm this past October.

Arnaldur Indriðason's bestselling thriller novel Operation Napoleon is being adapted into a movie, featuring an ambitious lawyer caught in danger and accused of a crime she didn't commit. Vivian Ólafsdóttir leads the cast alongside Jack Fox, Iain Glenn, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and Atli Óskar Fjalarsson. Glenn, known for his role as Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones, has had a successful career in both film and television with roles in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Doctor Who, and Downton Abbey.

Arnaldur Indriðason's bestselling thriller novel is making its way to the screen in an exclusive Operation Napoleon clip. The movie centers on an ambitious lawyer as her efforts to clear her brother's name land her in equal danger as she is accused of a crime she didn't commit and must figure out how a German World War II plane wreck in an Icelandic glacier is...

A group of 200 internationally renowned writers, publishers, directors and producers have signed an open letter sounding the alarm over the implications of AI for human creativity.

“Several generative models of language and images have recently appeared in the public and private domains; they are developing at breakneck speed, accessible to all for any task which involves writing and creating,” read the letter, published online on Tuesday.

“These models are shaping a world where, little by little, creation can do without human beings, thereby hastening the automation of many creative and intellectual professions formerly deemed inaccessible to mechanization.”

The letter, initiated by European translation professionals under the banner of “Collective For Human Translation – In Flesh And Blood”, comes amid growing concern about the impact of generative AI technology on professionals working in the creative industries.

Signatories from the literary world included Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux (Happening) as well as best-selling...

Amidst the growing conversations around AI-written scripts, there are films like Operation Napoleon that stand as stark, glum specimens of the limitations of human creativity. There’s no beating around the bush when a riveting premise is wasted on a narrative that is so evidently myopic that it couldn’t shoot straight even if the target were an inch away. If your undemanding love for movies that dovetail a central quest and an extensive chase has helped you make it to the end of Operation Napoleon and you want some of your questions answered, you’re at the right place. With random names of people and places generously sprinkled over the bland dialogue to distract you from just how insipid it really is, chances are, all you’re left with are questions. The first being: what was even the point of this?

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens In The Film?

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Operation Napoleon is a thrilling story based on a 1999 Icelandic novel about a crashed Nazi plane and the race to retrieve its contents. The film features a diverse cast and explores the dangerous pursuit of the aircraft by criminals and the CIA. The story revolves around an Icelandic lawyer who becomes embroiled in an international conspiracy after receiving footage revealing the plane's location, with hints that Adolf Hitler's body may be inside.

Operation Napoleon digs into the past to tell a thrilling tale set in the present. Based on a book written by Arnaldur Indridason and published in Icelandic in 1999, Operation Napoleon is the story of a crashed Nazi plane and a dangerous race to retrieve its contents. Operation Napoleon boasts a cast that includes Vivian Ólafsdóttir, Jack Fox, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and Iain Glen, was written by Arnaldur Indriðason and Marteinn Thorisson, and directed by Óskar Thór Axelsson.

Few cinematic traditions are more enduring than thinking up new and inventive ways to beat up Nazis. From “Inglourious Basterds” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” to “Dead Snow” and “Sisu,” such projects run the gamut: prestige pictures, blockbusters, low-rent genre fare and everything in between. Icelandic helmer Óskar Thór Axelsson’s “Operation Napoleon,” an adaptation of the bestseller by Arnaldur Indriðason, is the latest offshoot of that storied subgenre: the alt-history thriller that imagines the long-lasting effects of a heretofore untold Third Reich conspiracy.

With such first-act intrigue as a shadowy CIA official instructing a subordinate to “initiate phase one” over the phone and the discovery of an intact Nazi aircraft on Iceland’s Vatnajökull glacier in the present day, the film is sure to endear itself to a certain kind of genre-loving movie buff. As the plot fails to truly thicken and the film settles into something unexpectedly self-serious,...

“Operation Napoleon” is a new action thriller directed by by Óskar Thór Axelsson, releasing August 11, 2023:

“…Icelandic-based lawyer ‘Kristin’ gets drawn into the vortex of an international conspiracy when she receives footage of an airplane wreck, recently revealed by the melting of one of Iceland’s largest glaciers.

“The old German World War II plane not only brings ruthless criminals onto the scene, but also ‘CIA’ director ‘William Carr’, who has been secretly trying to remove the wreck for a long time. Kristin refuses to rest until the key has been discovered that will solve the riddle of ‘Operation Napoleon’…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

"A secret that could change the course of history..." Signature Ent. in the UK has posted their own official trailer for an Icelandic thriller titled Operation Napoleon: Frozen Conspiracy, which will be headed straight-to-vod in the UK this summer. This German-Iceland production already opened in both countries earlier this year, but doesn't have a US release set yet. Not sure why, looks like it could be a gripping watch. Operation Napoleon is a thrilling adventure of a modern-day lawyer sucked into an international conspiracy after being accused of a murder she didn't commit. Her only chance of freedom lies in uncovering the secret of an old German WWII airplane, long buried deep beneath the ice, before the CIA. Starring Iain Glen, Vivian Ólafsdóttir, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and Jack Fox. Based on the best-selling novel. This looks mysterious enough to get my attention, and Iceland has been bringing us tons of great films recently.

Key deals for ’Operation Napoleon’, ’The Fox’, ’Let The River Flow’ and ’Diabolik’ films

Germany’s Beta Cinema has agreed a raft of major territory deals for its Cannes slate.

Icelandic thriller Operation Napoleon, starring Iain Glen and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, has sold to Magnolia for North America and Signature Entertainment for UK/Ireland. It has also added Portugal (Pris) and Czech Republic (Bonton Films) to its list of sold territories which already included key territories like France (Mediawan), Spain (Twelve Oaks) and Japan (Tohokushinsha).

The English-language film is about a lawyer drawn into an international conspiracy when falsely accused of a murder.

Operation Napoleon, an Iceland-set conspiracy thriller from director Óskar Þór Axelsson (Black’s Game) has racked up international sales ahead of its market bow at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin later this month.

Sales outfit Beta Cinema unveiled on Thursday that the film has been picked up by Mediawan for France, Twelve Oaks in Spain, Hagi Film in Poland and by Tohokushinsha for Japan. Smaller sales include the territories of the former Yugoslavia (MegaCom) and Taiwan (Av-Jet).

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Icelandic crime author Arnaldur Indriðason, Operation Napoleon is a high-concept conspiracy thriller centered on an old German World War II plane containing dangerous secrets, is discovered as it emerges from a melting glacier in Iceland, where it crossed back in 1945.

Icelandic newcomer Vivian Ólafsdóttir (It Hatched) stars in the English-language adaptation alongside an international cast including Game of Thrones’ Iain Glen, Riviera...

Ahead of the film’s market premiere at Berlin’s European Film Market, Beta Cinema has announced first deals for “Operation Napoleon” to France (Mediawan), Spain (Twelve Oaks), Poland (Hagi Film), Former Yugoslavia (MegaCom), Japan (Tohokushinsha) and Taiwan (Av-Jet).

The English-language thriller is based on the eponymous best-selling novel by Icelandic crime author Arnaldur Indriðason and stars Icelandic newcomer Vivian Ólafsdóttir (“It Hatched”) and Iain Glen, best known for his role as Dr. Alexander Isaacs in the “Resident Evil” film series and as Ser Jorah Mormont in “Game of Thrones.”

The sweeping story takes us from modern Iceland to America and Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. It centers on young Icelandic lawyer Kristin, who gets drawn into the vortex of an international conspiracy when she receives grainy footage of an old airplane wreck, recently revealed by the melting of one of Iceland’s largest glaciers.

The...

Munich-based sales agency Beta Cinema has picked up international thriller “Operation Napoleon,” and will kick off presales at the Cannes Film Market.

Shooting wrapped recently at the Langjökull glacier in Iceland, and the production has now moved to Mmc Studios in Cologne, Germany.

The Icelandic-German co-production is based on the eponymous best-selling novel by Iceland’s Arnaldur Indriðason, and features a stellar cast, led by Icelandic newcomer Vivian Ólafsdóttir (“It Hatched”), Jack Fox and Scottish actor Iain Glen, best known for his role as Dr. Alexander Isaacs in the “Resident Evil” film series and as Ser Jorah Mormont in “Game of Thrones.”

The sweeping story takes the viewer from modern Iceland to America and Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. It centers on young Icelandic lawyer Kristin, who gets drawn into the vortex of an international conspiracy when she receives grainy footage of an old airplane wreck,...

The English-language thriller is a Germany-Iceland co-production.

German outfit Beta Cinema has boarded sales on Óskar Þór Axelsson’s Icelandic feature Operation Napoleon and will introduce the film to buyers at next month’s Cannes.

The English-language thriller is a co-production between Tinna Proppé and Hilmar Sigurðsson of Reykjavík-based Sagafilm with Dirk Schweitzer and Anita Elsani of Germany’s Splendid Entertainment.

Icelandic newcomer Vivian Ólafsdóttir stars with Jack Fox and Iain Glen.

Marteinn Pórisson has adapted the screenplay from Arnaldur Indridason’s novel about a young Icelandic lawyer drawn into an international conspiracy when she receives footage of an old airplane wreck.