Augenschein Readies More Star-Led Films as ‘The Dead of Winter’ Debuts

At Locarno Movie Pageant on Friday, Emma Thompson shall be honored and her newest movie, Brian Kirk’s thriller “The Useless of Winter,” may have its world premiere. Selection spoke to the co-chiefs of Augenschein, which produced the movie alongside Stampede Studios, about its slate of star-led, director-driven English-language movies.

Locarno has a particular place within the hearts of Augenschein’s founders, Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo, because it was there that their firm first demonstrated that it had undergone a change.

As much as that time, the German manufacturing firm was recognized for foreign-language arthouse movies, reminiscent of Berlin Silver Bear winner “Ana, My Love,” however all that modified with the 2019 Locarno launch of Patrick Vollrath’s aircraft hijacking thriller “7500,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. From that time on, English-language, director-driven, star-led, elevated style fare can be their sole focus.

Leo says that when he learn the script for “The Useless of Winter,” previously generally known as “The Fisherwoman,” he noticed it because the type of story that you might think about having Clint Eastwood because the lead, however that as an alternative a 60-plus 12 months previous lady can be in that function.

The movie facilities on a widowed fisherwoman, travelling alone by way of snowbound northern Minnesota, who interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage woman. Hours from the closest city and with no cellphone service, she realizes that she is the younger woman’s solely hope.

Leo says that the truth that she’s nothing out of the extraordinary, only a fisherwoman, “led to extra pressure.” Apart from the style components, on the movie’s core there’s a story filled with heartfelt emotion. As soon as Thompson was on board, it felt prefer it was “a house run,” he says.

North.5.Six represents worldwide rights, and CAA Media Finance handles North American rights, with Augenschein Gross sales working alongside each. Many of the worldwide rights have been pre-sold, together with North America, which was picked up by Vertical. Leonine holds German rights.

Additionally, on the Augenschein slate is interval epic “The Weight,” starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, which is capturing now within the forests of Bavaria, Germany. Set in Oregon in 1933, the movie is directed by Padraic McKinley.

Hawke performs Samuel Murphy who, after the loss of life of his spouse, is imprisoned in a labor camp run by Clancy, an unscrupulous overseer (Crowe). Murphy solely desires to flee and regain custody of his daughter, Penny, however turns into entangled in Clancy’s perilous gold smuggling scheme, going through threats from each the treacherous wilderness and potential betrayal inside his personal group.

The movie is produced by Simon Fields and Nathan Fields for Fields Leisure, Ryan Hawke for Beneath the Affect, and Katzenstein and Leo at Augenschein. WME Impartial and CAA Media Finance co-represent home rights on the movie whereas WME Impartial is dealing with worldwide rights.

Leo jokes that he’s superstitious about movie titles as he suspects they act as an “omen” to recommend how the movie’s financing and manufacturing are going to pan out, and this was vindicated with “The Weight.”

“I feel ‘The Weight’ is fairly correct, as a result of it felt like a number of heavy lifting that Jonas particularly needed to do within the final months, as a result of the market is horrible in the meanwhile, in horrible form,” he says. “There’s a number of volatility, much more than there was once.”

He provides, “Once we took the aircraft to Cannes [this year] it felt just like the film was lifeless, to be trustworthy. However Cannes was excellent for us, as a result of once we took the aircraft again, it felt just like the movie was saved.”

Requested what the reason for the problem out there is, Katzenstein doesn’t hesitate. “We expect it’s the streamers, as a result of the streamers are usually not paying loopy costs anymore. So, the backing in all of the international locations is lacking. And which means all of the presales are taking place, which suggests all of the fairness buyers are extra cautious.”

One more reason it was troublesome going into Cannes was Trump’s feedback on tariffs. “There was a number of worry,” Leo says.

Extra typically, the market has been getting more durable for producers. “Financing prices have elevated, we have now greater labor prices, we have now a number of extra prices in authorized, whereas there’s a better volatility out there, and fewer fairness buyers are comfortable to take a position eight million [dollars] or extra in a undertaking. So it turns into very, very shaky,” Leo says.

Nonetheless, he provides, “At instances like these it is vitally necessary that we are able to get 40%-60% [of a film’s budget] lined from the German market plus funds, and doing this makes it doable to maintain the road. I’m a surfer so it feels prefer it’s a really tough sea, and also you want a number of ability and nostril to choose the appropriate spots the place you continue to can catch the wave that makes a undertaking go. We really feel [the challenging conditions] as properly however a minimum of we’re nonetheless doing a number of initiatives, and we’re nonetheless rising, nevertheless it’s far more troublesome than two years in the past.”

In parallel to “The Weight,” Augenschein is capturing motion thriller “The Hive,” starring Franka Potente and Sophie Cookson, directed by Spain’s Martin Rosete. Two feminine brokers are tasked with stopping a terrorist assault throughout an financial summit, however an influence wrestle erupts between them. The movie is capturing in Germany and the Canaries. Plaion Footage is dealing with German distribution.

In the meantime, David Lowery’s epic pop melodrama “Mom Mary,” starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel, is in post-production. The movie explores the connection between fictional music icon Mom Mary (Hathaway) and the legendary clothier Sam (Coel). Augenschein is producing with Sailor Bear, A24 and Homebird Productions. A24 will deal with worldwide distribution.

Additionally in post-production is a horror film with the working title “Bloody Tennis,” directed by Germany’s Nikias Chryssos. The movie follows 16-year-old Sophie, who’s accepted into an elite tennis academy in Spain, however the value of success is excessive and should even declare her life. The solid consists of Sandra Guldberg Kampp (“Electrical Youngster”), Elina Löwensohn (“Novice”), Zlatko Burić (“Triangle of Disappointment”), Lucie Zhang (“Paris, thirteenth District”) and Helena Zengel (“Information of the World”). Port au Prince Footage is dealing with German distribution. Augenschein is seeking to launch it at a style pageant within the fall.

Leo describes the undertaking as a “bizarre film,” in a constructive sense, that’s “a fairly visceral and brutal metaphor for skilled sports activities coaching.”

Regardless of the adjustments out there, Katzenstein and Leo stay optimistic. Jan-Ole Gerster’s thriller “Islands,” starring Sam Riley, Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing, will launch on the field workplace in varied territories following its world premiere on the Berlin Movie Pageant in February this 12 months. The BFI is releasing within the U.Ok., and Greenwich is releasing within the U.S. The movie was nominated for 4 German Movie Awards.

Augenschein has two larger-scale initiatives transferring towards manufacturing: one with a “prime tier” U.S. distributor on board and a “actually huge solid” connected, and one other with a “prime tier” solid. Each are more likely to transfer ahead in Q1 or Q2 subsequent 12 months. The corporate can also be growing initiatives with McKinley, Gerster and Vollrath.

One undertaking that’s lifeless within the water is Justin Kurzel’s sci-fi film “Morning,” which might have starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Laura Dern. “Sadly, it added a ‘u’ to the prophetic title,” Leo says dryly.

“I’d say we really feel assured about 2026 nevertheless it’s additionally true that 2025 was not the simplest 12 months,” Leo says, “as a result of the top of 2024/starting of 2025 was a bit troublesome due to the volatility, and a number of initiatives that, like ‘Morning,’ didn’t actually go however I feel now we have now chosen initiatives much more fastidiously and it’s trying very optimistic going into subsequent 12 months.”

Augenschein has sturdy relationships with the U.S. expertise businesses and its repute as a dependable companion is rising.

Katzenstein says, “We’re not repped by anybody. We’re nonetheless free, impartial, so we work with all of them, and we have now an in depth relationship to all of the financing departments, the expertise departments. They know our means of mixing European funding cash with our bodily manufacturing data and financing talents. But additionally, we are able to develop and begin these items from scratch. So, it comes from each side. We contact them with our initiatives, they usually contact us with their initiatives.”

Leo provides, “I at all times make the joke that among the brokers have a pace dial 911 Augenschein; if initiatives are usually not coming collectively, they attain out. That’s a method over the bridge, and, as Jonas stated, the opposite means is that we are able to then use that relationship the place we stepped in and saved initiatives, as was the case with ‘The Evaluation.’ There we joined at a later stage as a result of the undertaking was threatening to collapse, after which with our means of financing it, we may convey it collectively and preserve it collectively, and after getting executed this a couple of times, brokers attain out extra usually, as a result of issues really get made.

“So, we now have a repute that we are able to preserve issues collectively, and even convey issues collectively. And that’s, after all, making it simpler once we strategy them with initiatives that we’re placing collectively after which once we are casting, we are able to at all times ask anyone to inform the expertise consultant that we’re a legit firm who will get issues made, and that may push the administrators we convey ahead.

“And that’s our lengthy sport plan, as a result of we need to use these relationships to nurture and develop European administrators into one thing the place these impartial productions can nonetheless work, and people administrators don’t have to maneuver over the ocean and enter what we name the U.S. limbo, ready for years for his or her initiatives to be greenlit. We are able to do that by combining each these worlds. And if that works, it could possibly repay very, very properly, and that’s why I feel we’re actively in search of deeper relationships with the entire brokers we’re working with.”