International independent production company and financier Gold Rush Pictures has signed a deal with Germany’s X Filme Creative Pool to participate in financing and co-produce the next three projects written and directed and/or produced by Tom Tykwer, including features and TV series.
The partnership follows Gold Rush Pictures recent investment in Tykwer’s German contemporary drama “The Light,”the filmmaker’s return to the big screen after seven years and four seasons as writer and director of the hit series “Babylon Berlin.” It is the writer-director’s first feature film since his 2016 adaptation of “A Hologram for the King,” starring Tom Hanks.
Currently in production, “The Light” (“Das Licht”) centres on a troubled family who take on a mysterious woman as a housekeeper. When she successfully shakes up the lives of the family, she then confronts them with the dark fate of her own. The film stars Lars Eidinger (“Dying,” “Persian Lessons,” “Personal Shopper,” “The Clouds of Sils Maria”), Nicolette Krebitz (“AEIOU,” “Wild”), Tala Al Deen (“A Thin Line”) and Elke Biesendorfer, Julius Gause and Elyas Eldridge. It is produced by Uwe Schott and Tykwer at X Filme. Beta Cinema is handling sales for all territories excluding German-speaking territories, France and North America.
“The Light” is a production of X Filme Creative Pool in co-production with ZDF, ARP Séléction, Gold Rush Pictures, Gretchenfilm and D.A. Filmproduktion and is funded by the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), the German Federal Film Board (FFA), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. Verleih/Warner Bros. will release the film in German theaters on Oct. 17. Principal photography took place in Berlin and surroundings, North Rhine-Westphalia and Kenya until the end of 2023.
“Gold Rush Pictures is a vehicle to support visionary filmmakers, and our collaboration with X Filme and Tom Tykwer is a fantastic opportunity to create and co-produce a series of projects with one of Europe’s most iconic auteurs,” said Vladimir Zemtsov, founder of Gold Rush Pictures. “The first of these projects – ‘Das Licht’ – is a compelling and expertly woven story from a master of his craft, and we are thrilled to begin our partnership with X Filme Creative Pool with this title.”
X Filme Creative Pool CEO Uwe Schott added: “I’m looking forward to the future collaboration with our new partners and friends of Gold Rush Pictures.”
Tykwer is one of Germany’s most respected filmmakers. After his breakout hit “Run Lola Run” (1998), he directed “Heaven” (2002), “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” (2006) and “The International” (2009). He collaborated with The Wachowskis as co-director for “Cloud Atlas” (2012), starring Tom Hanks, and the Netflix series “Sense 8” (2015-2018), and worked as a composer on the score for Lana Wachowski’s “The Matrix Resurrections” (2021). He is the co-creator of “Babylon Berlin” (2017-2023).
