US distributor and marketing guru Harvey Weinstein (co-chairman of The Weinstein Company), has partnered with Martin Scorsese (pictured) to present the Swedish crime thriller Easy Money to US audiences. The film supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond will be released in the US on July 11, 2012.
Knowing that the name of the director of Goodfellas would enhance the awareness and want to see factor, Weinstein cleverly obtained Scorsese's backing and positive comment about the first instalment in writer Jens Lapidus' Stockholm noir trilogy adaptation. "I was deeply impressed by Daniel Espinosa's Easy Money - by the harsh, elemental style, which reflects the milieu and the lives of the characters; by the powerful sense of fate, of well-meaning people who take one wrong turn and end up paying a terrible price; by the frightening and surprising evolution of the hero. Easy Money is a tough story and a film to be reckoned with," said the US mob movie specialist.
Weinstein said: "This taut suspense thriller struck a chord with me, and I'm excited that a visionary like Martin Scorsese shares my passion for this film."
The US mogul acquired the Tre Vänner production after the Berlinale 2010. Since then, Daniel Espinosa and lead actor Joel Kinnaman' s Hollywood careers have taken off in LA. Espinosa has directed Universal's hit Safe House (over $202 million gross worldwide) and is developing The Outsider for Warner Bros while Kinnaman is a known face now for US audiences with AMC's version of the TV series The Killing and had a part in Safe House opposite Denzel Washington.
A US version of Easy Money is in development at Warner Bros with Zak Efron attached in the lead role as JW.
Back in Sweden, the second film in the Easy Money trilogy directed by Babak Najafi will be released on August 17, 2012.