Jeremy Strong Starring in Escape Thriller ‘The Passenger’ From Director Magnus von Horn, FilmNation Launching Sales in Cannes

Jeremy Strong is set to lead “The Passenger,” a historical escape thriller directed by Magnus von Horn. FilmNation Entertainment has secured worldwide rights to the project, with the exception of German-speaking territories and Poland.

The film represents von Horn’s first English-language feature. The Swedish-Polish filmmaker previously earned critical acclaim for “The Girl with the Needle,” which received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Strong, who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Roy Cohn in “The Apprentice,” has also won an Emmy for “Succession” and a Tony Award for the 2024 revival of “An Enemy of the People.” His past work includes “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” “The Gentlemen,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Armageddon Time.” He is next set to play Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Reckoning,” a follow-up to “The Social Network.”

The screenplay for “The Passenger” was co-written by von Horn and Aleko Gotscheff and is adapted from Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz’s 1938 novel of the same name. The book became a U.K. Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller and has been translated into more than 30 languages.

The story follows Otto Silbermann, a Jewish businessman forced to flee Berlin after the November 1938 pogroms, known as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. As he attempts to escape, Otto moves from train to train, watching his homeland close in around him while his sense of identity begins to unravel.

“I keep being struck by how history repeats itself. 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,” Von Horn said in a statement. “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.”

The film is being produced by Port au Prince Films (Jan Krueger and Rosh Khodabakhsh) and Lava Films (Mariusz Włodarski), with Martina Valentina Baumgartner serving as executive producer. FilmNation is co-financing the project and will handle international sales beginning at Cannes.

Alice Laffillé, FilmNation’s vice president of sales, said “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.”

“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,” said producers Krueger, Khodabakhsh and Włodarski in a joint statement.

FilmNation’s recent and upcoming projects include Sean Baker’s “Anora,” Edward Berger’s “Conclave” and Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman.” On the television side, the company has released the Prime Video original series “The House of the Spirits” and “Small Town, Big Story” for Sky. Its theater work includes the 2024 Best Play Tony winner “Stereophonic” as well as the Tony Award-winning productions “Prima Facie” and “The Band’s Visit.”

The deal for “The Passenger” was negotiated by Laffillé on behalf of FilmNation Entertainment, Włodarski for Lava Films, and Krueger for Port au Prince Films.

Von Horn is represented by WME and Range Media Partners. Strong is represented by WME, Range Media Partners, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox.

Read the whole article on Variety.