Los Angeles, CA – March 29, 2021 – It was announced today that Village Roadshow Pictures (VRP), 6th & Idaho and XYZ Films are partnering for the English-language remake of the acclaimed Russian sci-fi thriller SPUTNIK. Producers for the remake include Matt Reeves, Adam Kassan and Rafi Crohn for 6th & Idaho, Mikhail Vrubel and Alexander Andryushenko for Vodorod Pictures, Fedor Bondarchuk for Art Pictures and Ilya Stewart for Hype Film. Egor Abramenko, Murad Osmann, Pavel Burya, Alina Tyazhlova and Mila Rozanova are executive producers. XYZ Films also serves as executive producers. Jillian Apfelbaum will oversee for Village Roadshow Pictures.
Set in the Soviet Union in 1980s during the midst of the Cold War, the film concerns a young female doctor who is recruited by the military to assess a cosmonaut who survived a mysterious space accident and returned to Earth with a dangerous organism living inside him. The English-language remake is currently in development.
The original film was directed by Egor Abramenko and produced by Vodorod Pictures, Art Pictures Studio, and Hype Film. SPUTNIK had its international premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and was released in Russia in April 2020 to critical acclaim followed by a successful North American launch handled by IFC. XYZ Films handled North American sales for the original film. SPUTNIK is still actively running in the international genre festival circuit.
“We believe SPUTNIK will translate well to English-speaking audiences and continue to captivate moviegoers worldwide with its thrilling story. We are eager to begin production and believe we have some of the best partners in the industry to reimagine Egor’s original vision while staying true to the film’s journey,” said Jillian Apfelbaum, Village Roadshow Pictures’ Executive Vice President, Feature Film.
“Sputnik was the first big Russian release to go straight to digital platforms during the lockdown, everyone was staying at home and an unprecedented amount of people watched it, the release created a lot of buzz both in Russia and globally. I’m very proud that Sputnik now is a rare Russian film to get an English language remake,” says producer and lead actor Fedor Bondarchuk.
“We’re thrilled that the Sputnik universe is continuing its inspiring journey and reaching new heights. Four years ago, we made a short film with a young and extremely talented director, which went on to serve as the proof of concept for his outstanding feature film debut and now an English-language remake alongside such fantastic partners. It’s exciting that new and international collaborations continue to be formed in spite of the pandemic which is a true testament to the power of art and the film industry, and that no dreams are too big,” said Ilya Stewart of Hype Film.
“We couldn’t think of better partners than Village Roadshow Pictures and 6th & Idaho to widen the scope of our story and tell it to a wider audience in English. They are filmmaker-oriented producers with exquisite taste and a fresh vision – a perfect match,” said Mikhail Vrubel and Alexander Andryushenko of Vodorod Pictures.
The original film was directed by Egor Abramenko and produced by Vodorod Pictures, Art Pictures Studio, and Hype Film. SPUTNIK had its international premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and was released in Russia in April 2020 to critical acclaim followed by a successful North American launch handled by IFC. XYZ Films handled North American sales for the original film. SPUTNIK is still actively running in the international genre festival circuit.
Together, Vodorod Pictures, Art Pictures and Hype Film have produced some of the buzziest Russian titles of the past few years, such as Attraction and Invasion by Fedor Bondarchuk, the box office hit Ice2 by Zhora Kryzhovnikov, Leto by Kirill Serebrennikov and Persian Lessons by Vadim Perelman.
XYZ’s recent slate of sales titles include Netflix original THE TRIP starring Noomi Rapace and Aksel Hennie, CUS AND MIKE starring Anthony Hopkins, current release VIVARIUM starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots and Sion Sono’s PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND, starring Nicolas Cage and Sofia Boutella, which will premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. XYZ is also in post-production on STOWAWAY starring Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette, which will be released as a Netflix Original in 2021, and DUAL starring Karen Gillan, Aaron Paul and Beulah Koale.
The deal was negotiated by XYZ Films and by UTA on behalf of the filmmakers and by CAA on behalf of 6th & Idaho.
About Village Roadshow Entertainment Group
Village Roadshow Entertainment Group is a leading global entertainment company building premier, content-rich businesses in the entertainment industry. VREG employs innovative strategies to produce, acquire and deliver intellectual properties with timeless appeal, while maximizing group-wide strategic and operational efficiencies. VREG is the holding company of Village Roadshow Pictures and Village Roadshow Television. Under its leadership by Vine Alternative Investments, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group diversified its portfolio to include financing and producing projects across multiple formats including film, television and digital.
About 6th & Idaho
6th & Idaho recently completed production on THE BATMAN for Warner Brothers, written/produced/directed by Matt Reeves. Upcoming films include MOTHER/ANDROID written and directed by Mattson Tomlin and premiering on Hulu later this year. In 2020, Amazon released their Emmy nominated series TALES FROM THE LOOP starring Rebecca Hall, and Netflix released AWAY starring Hilary Swank. They are currently in post on a pilot for NBC based on a script Reeves wrote entitled ORDINARY JOE, starring James Wolk.
About XYZ Films
XYZ Films is an integrated content company whose mission is to empower visionary storytellers from every corner of the planet. As an independent production company and worldwide sales agency, the company is uniquely suited to identify talented filmmakers and bring their stories to life. XYZ was founded in 2008 by Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, and Aram Tertzakian, and is best known for The Raid franchise, 2017 Sundance winner I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore, and Panos Cosmatos’ psychedelic revenge thriller Mandy. In 2019, XYZ expanded into management, working with an international roster of filmmakers, and secured a film fund with ambitions of financing over a dozen films in the next several years. XYZ’s recent productions include Stowaway, Joe Penna’s sci-fi thriller starring Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette, and Dual, Riley Stearns’ sci-fi film starring Karen Gillan and Aaron Paul.