The Russian fantasy adventure horror Viy (known abroad as Forbidden Empire), which was adapted to film from Nikolai Gogol’s novella of the same name, was a massive success in its home country. The film, which came out in 2014, still has the record for highest opening weekend take.
In the first film:
Early 18th century cartographer Jonathan Green undertakes a scientific voyage from Western Europe to the East. Having passed through Transylvania and crossed the Carpathian Mountains, he finds himself in a small village lost in impassable woods of Ukraine. Nothing but chance and heavy fog could bring him to this cursed place. People who live here do not resemble any other people which the traveler saw before that. The villagers, having dug a deep moat to fend themselves from the rest of the world, share a naive belief that they could save themselves from evil, failing to understand that evil has made its nest in their souls and is waiting for an opportunity to gush out upon the world.
Producer Alexey Petrukhin spoke recently with Variety about the sequel, Viy 2, which has brought some serious star power to its cast in the form of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator, Maggie), Jackie Chan (Rush Hour, Rumble in the Bronx) and Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, The Hitcher)! They join the confirmed cast of Jason Flemyng (Clash of the Titans, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), Charles Dance (Underworld: Blood Wars), Martin Klebba and Christopher Fairbank.
The film shot in China and is currently in post-production. There is an expected release date of early 2017.