The first image from the set of Jalmari Helander’s BIG GAME features Samuel L. Jackson as “The President” and Onni Tommila as his 13-year old sidekick “Oskari” as captured on location in Bavaria.

Joining the cast in the final weeks of the shoot are Felicity Huffman (Transamerica, Desperate Housewives) playing “The CIA Director”, Victor Garber (Titanic, Argo) playing “U.S. Vice President” and Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs, American Gangster) as “General Underwood.” Samuel L. Jackson and Onni Tommila (Rare Exports) take the leading roles and other previously announced co-stars include British talent Jim Broadbent (Iris, The Iron Lady) and Ray Stevenson (Thor, GI Joe: Retaliation) and, from Germany, Mehmet Kurtulus (Short Sharp Shock).

An adrenaline-fuelled action adventure, BIG GAME is written and directed by Jalmari Helander (Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale) and is nearing the end of its eight-week shoot on locations across Bavaria and at Bavaria Film Studios.

When Air Force One is shot down by terrorists leaving the President of the United States stranded in the wilderness, there is only one person around who can save him – a 13-year old boy called Oskari.

In the forest on a hunting mission to prove his maturity to his kinsfolk, Oskari had been planning to track down a deer, but instead discovers the most powerful man on the planet in an escape pod.

With the terrorists closing in to capture their own “Big Game” prize, the unlikely duo must team up to escape their hunters. As anxious Pentagon officials observe the action via satellite feed, it is up to the President and his new side-kick to prove themselves and survive the most extraordinary 24 hours of their lives.

Based on a story by Jalmari Helander and Petri Jokiranta, BIG GAME combines the universal rite-of-passage theme of iconic 80’s films, such as E.T. and The Karate Kid with the visceral thrill of high-concept action classics such as Die Hard and Taken. The Director of Photography is Mika Orasmaa (Rare Exports, Iron Sky) with Scanline VFX (Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, Iron Man) on board for all special effects.

As director and co-writer, Jalmari Helander comments: “BIG GAME is an action adventure story on an epic scale. I’m delighted to be taking this genre on as it has always been very close to my heart, as action-packed adventure stories contain the elements that I believe make movies that are worth watching.”

A Finnish-German-UK co-production, Petri Jokiranta produces under the Subzero banner, alongside Will Clarke and Andy Mayson for Altitude Film Entertainment, with Jens Meurer of Egoli Tossell Film as the German producer. Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Dredd) is executive producer. Financiers include: Finnish Film Foundation; YLE; Nordisk Film TV Fond; Visionplus Fund; Bavarian Film Partners; Bavarian Film and Television Fund (FFFBayern); German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), along with Comerica Bank Entertainment Group and KfW Bankengruppe. Development and bridge-financing has been provided by Headgear, Film House Germany and Merg Films. BIG GAME is the first international project to have received backing from FFF Bayern’s special programme for international co-productions.

Altitude Film Sales is handling worldwide sales, with Altitude and WME jointly representing the North American rights. Entertainment One has taken all rights to the film for the UK, Ascot Elite for all German-speaking territories and Nordisk for Scandinavia.

ALTITUDE FILM ENTERTAINMENT
Altitude Film Entertainment is a UK-based vertically integrated film company launched last year by Will Clarke, founder of leading UK independent producer and distributor Optimum Releasing (now Studio Canal), with Andy Mayson as joint CEO and Mike Runagall as Managing Director of international sales company, Altitude Film Sales. 

Altitude has been focusing on production, financing and international sales with a strong commercial outlook.   The company’s first creative partnerships are with filmmakers James Watkins (The Woman in Black, Eden Lake) and Simon Duric for The Loch; Jalmari Helander, Petri Jokiranta, Jens Meurer and Alex Garland for Big Game;  producer/actor Jason Maza (The Knot, Fish Tank, Welcome to the Punch) and director/actor Nick Nevern (Terry, The Sweeney) on The Hooligan Factory; director Jabbar Raisani for Outpost 37; producer Gregor Cameron  (Goin’ Down to South Park, Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show) and Owen Harris (Holy Flying Circus) for Kill Your Friends; and Ben Craig (Modern Times) writer Matt Charman (A Night at the Dogs) to make Mythica.

SUBZERO FILM ENTERTAINMENT
Subzero Film Entertainment is established in 2012 by producer Petri Jokiranta and director Jalmari Helander after the success of their previous film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.  Under their Subzero banner Jokiranta and Helander will concentrate on developing high-concept genre projects for Helander to direct and Subzero to produce.

EGOLI TOSSELL FILM
Egoli Tossell Film – part of the Film House Germany group – was founded by Judy Tossell and Jens Meurer in 2001. Currently filming Hector and the Search for Happiness starring Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Christopher Plummer and Jean Reno, their recent productions and co-productions include Ron Howard’s Rush with Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl, James McAvoy in the Irvine Welsh adaptation Filth, Unfinished Song with Gemma Arterton and Terence Stamp, Golden Globe-winner Carlos, Sean Bean in medieval Horror-Thriller Black Death and Oscar™-nominated The Last Station starring Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer.

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