Jeremy Strong (“Succession”) will star in The Passenger, a historical escape thriller marking the English-language debut of The Girl with the Needle director Magnus von Horn, Variety reports.
Von Horn co-wrote the script with Aleko Gotscheff, based on Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz‘s 1938 German novel of the same name.
It follows Otto Silbermann, a respected businessman forced to flee Berlin after the November 1938 pogroms, known as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. Otto tries to escape with his wealth and drifts from train to train as his homeland becomes a cage and his identity dissolves.
“I keep being struck by how history repeats itself,” said vom Horn. “Boschwitz wrote The Passenger as a 23-year-old refugee in 1938; he didn’t have the luxury of hindsight, and neither does Otto Silbermann, who moves through Germany over four days believing the next train, the next acquaintance, the next bank counter will return him to the life he knew.”
He continues, “I want to make a film about that exact moment, the moment before someone admits the world has changed. I see it everywhere now: in headlines, in negotiations, in the rooms of people I love. We are extraordinary at staying.”
Jan Krueger & Rosh Khodabakhsh of Port au Prince Films and Mariusz Włodarski of Lava Films produce, with Martina Valentina Baumgartner serves as an executive producer.
FilmNation has acquired the worldwide rights, excluding German-speaking territories and Poland. They’ll co-finance the film and launch sales out of Cannes.
“Magnus’ work on The Girl with the Needle was remarkable — he is a true auteur filmmaker with an extraordinary ability to weave contemporary themes into historical narratives, and the FilmNation team is thrilled to bring his English-language debut to audiences around the world,” said FilmNation vice president of sales Alice Laffillé.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Magnus, Jeremy Strong, and FilmNation on bringing this gripping and vital story to the screen, uniting international voices in a film with true global reach,” added Krueger, Khodabakhsh, and Włodarski in a joint statement.
