Music Box Films’ genre label Doppelgänger Releasing has acquired North American distribution rights to the rowdy, offbeat Finnish comedy “Heavier Trip” by directors Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren, marking the return of the film’s Heavy metal band Impaled Rektum. Charades is handling world sales rights.
“Heavier Trip” is the follow-up to “Heavy Trip,” which was distributed by Doppelgänger Releasing in 2018. The cast and crew reunite to continue the story of the world’s most dangerous (and charming) metal band, including actors Johannes Holopainen (Turo), Samuli Jaskio (Lotvonen), Max Ovaska (Xytrax), and Chike Ohanwe (Oula).
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“Heavier Trip’s” world premiere will be announced imminently followed by a theatrical and home entertainment release this November.
In “Heavier Trip,” the most ferocious death metal band in the world, Impaled Rektum, is incarcerated in a Norwegian prison when they discover that the guitarist’s family is facing significant financial trouble. In an effort to assist them, the band breaks out of prison and embarks on a journey through northern Europe to perform at the largest and most iconic metal festival in the world: Wacken. Deceived by a dishonest record label legend and pursued by a murderous prison guard, numerous adventures await them, but their ultimate challenge becomes keeping the band together amid the chaos.
“If there’s one thing the world needs, it’s feel-good movies about dudes who play symphonic post-apocalyptic reindeer-grinding Christ-abusing extreme war pagan Fennoscandic metal,” stated Laatio and Vidgren. “We’re so excited to bring ‘Heavier Trip’ to audiences in North America and make lots of noise with this sequel’s release!”
“It’s a thrill to see ‘Heavier Trip’ being distributed in the U.S. Music Box Films and Doppelgänger Releasing’s eclectic slate, spanning both demanding arthouse cinema and mainstream comedy, leaves no doubt about their ability to draw audiences to theaters,” Charades CEO Pierre Mazars said. “As a metal fan myself, I couldn’t be happier.”
“We were proud to distribute ‘Heavy Trip’ and we still sport our t-shirts from Impaled Rektum’s 2018 North American tour,” said Brian Andreotti of Music Box Films. “We were excited to hear that Jukka and Juuso were working on a sequel, and the prospect of any other North American distributor trying to challenge our dominance in the symphonic post-apocalyptic, reindeer-grinding, Christ-abusing, extreme war pagan Fennoscandic metal space was simply not an option. It’s been six years since Impaled Rektum conquered North America, and we can’t wait for their return this fall.”