SF Studios’ Horizon Line gets November 6 opening slot in Sweden/UK/Benelux

Mikael Marcimain’s action-packed movie starring Allison Williams (Get Out, Girls) and Alexander Dreymon (The Last Kingdom) will be released wide by SF Studios in Sweden on November 6, and simultaneously in the UK via STX Entertainment and The Searchers in Benelux. 

According to Pia Grünler, SF Studios’ Nordic Head of Theatrical Distribution, the Scandinavian group will then launch the film in Finland on November 20, and in Norway November 27. So far no theatrical date has been set for Denmark. 

Commenting on Horizon Line’s release amid Covid-19, Grünler said: “All cinemas are open in the four major Nordic territories and in Sweden, restrictions will soon be eased, with the 50 maximum screen capacity to be upped to 300 maximum on November 3, although the one empty seat per different household rule in cinema venues will be maintained. This change of rule will definitely work in favour of bigger cinema chains and wide audience releases such as Horizon Line. We saw an opportunity on the market when the Bond movie No Time to Die was delayed and jumped on it as there are very few new releases catering for the 15-30 avid cinema-going audience who are craving for this type of suspense-driven movie,” she noted. 

Fredrik Wikström Nicastro, SVP International Production at SF Studios concurs with Grünler. “Horizon Line is a true entertaining popcorn movie for young audiences, and there isn’t much content for that audience in that space right now. We think it’s a good time to release it now, despite the reduced screen capacity in many cinemas” he told nordicfilmandtvnews.com. 

In the UK, STX Entertainment is also confident about the theatrical prospects, according to Wikström Nicastro. “UK exhibitors love the film and think it’s very entertaining and it works perfectly for that young audience,” continues SF Studios’ executive.

Wikström Nicastro also points out that despite the large SEK 200m ($22m) budget, recoupment looks very positive. “The film is basically pre-sold everywhere and we have good MGs, so we’re in a good place,” he says. “Besides theatrical, TVOD and SVOD are more lucrative than ever before, as people consume a lot of films on streaming platforms, so this is probably where we’ll see more revenues,” he said.

STX Entertainment plans to release the film in the US early 2021.

Wikström Nicastro who heads SF Studios’ international drive says working on Horizon Line was “a great experience”. “We wanted to made an English-language movie that could compete with content from Hollywood and to play in that ball game, with a bigger budget. We’re pleased with the outcome, the market has responded very positively, so now we’re continuing our international expansion, together with our UK office. Our ambitions is to make 1-2 films a year in this scale within the next 2 years,” he says.

Next up is the remake of A Man Called Ove starring Tom Hanks, set to go into production in the fall 2021.