24/11/2015 - The renowned Hollywood director is set to shoot a remake of his TV movie Vier gegen die Bank in Berlin

For the first time in 27 years, Hollywood writer-director-producer Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, In the Line of Fire, Air Force One, The Perfect Storm) is coming back to Germany, where he will shoot a comedy in Berlin. The project Vier gegen die Bank is based on the TV movie of the same name that Petersen directed in Germany in 1976. He considers it a challenge to make a comedy, a genre that he hasn’t tackled very often during his career. Furthermore, he is planning several other projects in Germany, where film crews have become extremely professional in recent years.

The star-studded cast of Vier gehen die Bank [+see also:
trailer
film profile] includes German actors such as Til Schweiger, Michael Bully Herbig, Jan Joseph Liefers, Matthias Schweighöfer and Alexandra Maria Lara. Scripted in collaboration with Tripper Clancy and Lucy Astner, the concept of the story has changed somewhat. While in the 40-year-old original story, it was rich people who lost all of their money, there are no wealthy heroes in the remake. Instead, four ordinary people lose all their savings due to the risky dealings of their bank; they then join forces and decide to get their money back from the bank. 

Produced by Warner Bros and Berlin-based production company Hellinger/Doll Filmproduktion (Dreamgirls [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), the comedy’s budget amounts to about one-twentieth that of Troy. Principal photography for the movie is scheduled to start on 30 November in Berlin, where the director will continue shooting until February. Filmed mostly on location, Petersen plans to avoid typical picture-postcard settings. The editing of the film will take place in Los Angeles. 

In Germany, Vier gegen die Bank will be distributed by Warner Bros during Christmas 2016.