Oscar nominee and Emmy winner
Jeremy Strong's latest project is the historical thriller
"The Passenger" directed by
Magnus von Horn (Oscar-nominated film
"The Girl with the Needle") in his English-language debut from a script co-written by van Horn and
Aleko Gotscheff based on the acclaimed 1938 novel of the same
name by
Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz. FilmNation Entertainment has acquired worldwide rights, excluding German-speaking territories and Poland.
The film follows respected
businessman Otto Silbermann who is forced to flee Berlin after the November 1938 pogroms, known as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. As he tries to escape with his wealth, he drifts from train to train as his homeland becomes a cage and his identity dissolves.
Von Horn said the following in a statement:
"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. 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".
Alice Laffillé, FilmNation's vice president of sales, added:
"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".
"The Passenger" is produced by
Jan Krueger & Rosh Khodabakhsh via Port au Prince Films and
Mariusz Włodarski through Lava Films.
Martina Valentina Baumgartner serves as an executive producer. FilmNation is co-financing the film and launching sales out of Cannes.
Strong can next be seen
"The Social Reckoning" a follow-up to
"The Social Network", in which he stars as Facebook founder and Meta chief
Mark Zuckerberg.
