Martin Scorsese presents Easy Money from Sweden

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

22/06/2012 - When Swedish director Daniél Espinosa’s 2010 thriller Easy Money [trailer] is launched in New York and Los Angeles on 11-13 July, it will be under the 'Martin Scorsese Presents' banner from The Weinstein Company, which has recently released such films as The King’s Speech [trailer, film focus], The Artist [trailer, film focus] and Inglourious Basterds.

“I was deeply impressed by Easy Money – the hard and simple style which reflects the life and world of its characters. It is a strong story to be reckoned with,” explained Scorsese, who has directed more than 50 features, most recently the Oscar-winning Hugo Cabret.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros is preparing the US remake of the film, which is based on Swedish lawyer-turned-author Jens Lapidus’s Stockholm Noir novels; Swedish Easy Money producer Tre Vänner will co-produce, with Zac Efron considered for the lead.

Espinosa’s original became the No 1 local blockbuster by 620,000 admissions, topped the DVD charts and was sold to more than 30 countries by TrustNordisk; it was an instant ticket to Hollywood both for Espinosa and lead actor Joel Kinnamon – lately Espinosa signed Safe House, with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, Kinnamon has been attached to ao José Padilha’s RoboCop.

Also produced by Frederik Wikström Nicastro for Tre Vänner, with Swedish regional film centre, Film i Väst, Easy Money II – still starring Kinnamon, but directed by Babak Najafi – will be domestically released by Nordisk Film on August 17.

The concluding part of the trilogy about JW, a poor young student with a double life in the wealthy Stockholm elite and organised crime, will be directed by Jens Jonsson, whose The King of Ping Pong [trailer] (2008) won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance as well as a Silver Hugo in Chicago.