LONDON — Munich-based sales company Beta Cinema is to handle international rights on David Wnendt’s comedy “Look Who’s Back,” which has grossed more than $10 million at the box office in Germany in its first two weeks.
The film is based on Timur Vermes’ bestselling 2012 novel, which has been published in more than 40 countries and was number one on the London Times bestseller list.
The film, which is set in the present day, starts with Adolf Hitler waking up on the site of his former bunker, now a residential area of Berlin, 70 years after his presumed demise. The war is over, his party is no more, his beloved Eva is not there to console him, and the present German society is so multicultural he does not recognize it. But, against all the odds, Hitler begins a new career on television because he is universally mistaken for a brilliant comedian — even though he is indeed the genuine article and his intentions have not changed.
“Look Who’s Back” is not the usual book adaption. Wnendt, whose last film “Wetlands” played at Sundance Film Festival, lets lead actor Oliver Masucci interact in character with normal people in documentary-style scenes.
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The film is produced by Mythos Film, and co-produced by Constantin Film. The producers are Christoph Mueller and Lars Dittrich; executive producers are Oliver Berben and Martin Moszkowicz; the associate producer is Sergej Rubinstein. The film is supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, FFA, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and DFFF.
The movie is screening at the American Film Market on Nov. 3. Other Beta titles screening at AFM are “Colonia,” “Hevn” (Revenge), “Coconut Hero,” “The People Vs. Fritz Bauer” and “The Kind Words.”
