The Beowulf man

Toronto – Going from Rare Birds to killer trolls, Sturla Gunnarsson’s next project will be a feature adaptation of the ancient Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. The pic is a three-way copro between Canada, the U.K. and Iceland, handled on this side by Paul Stephens and Eric Jordan of The Film Works (Such a Long Jounrey) and by Gunnarsson’s Eurasia Motion Pictures. Michael Lionello Cowan and Jason Piette produce for the U.K.’s Spice Factory (The Merchant of Venice), as does Fridrik Thor Fridriksson (Angels of the Universe) for Bjolfskvioa of Iceland.

Gunnarsson will shoot Beowulf and Grendel in Iceland this summer, working with a script by coproducer Andrew Rai Berzins (Scorn, Cowboys and Indians).

Gerard Butler (Timeline) has signed on as the title hero and will do battle with Iceland’s Ingvar Sigurdsson (K-19), who appears as the monster Grendel with help from makeup maestro Nick Dudman (the Harry Potter series, Batman).

Telefilm Canada, The Movie Network, The Harold Greenberg Fund and Equinoxe Films all wrote cheques, along with Movision Entertainment, the Icelandic Film Centre and the Icelandic Innovation Fund. Equinoxe will distribute in Canada, while Arclight Films is handling foreign sales. Sean Davidson

This old house

Toronto – Former Toronto film commissioner David Plant is exec producing the low-budget feature The House, a black comedy that just wrapped a four-week shoot in Toronto and Hamilton, ON under rookie filmmaker David Krae, with a little help from the ACTRA TIP program, unions and suppliers. The pic shot for under $100,000 in HD.

Krae produces, directs and stars as a failed student who shares an abandoned house with a gang of misfits, including Sarain Boylan (Posers), Maggie Castle (Starhunter 2300) and Matthew Finlason (Doc). Hartley Gorenstein is supervising producer, teamed with production manager Ian Chan of 4Lanes Productions and DOP Kevin Wong.

The House will be distributed by Krae’s Aquila Pictures, to which Plant is also attached as an EVP. Sean Davidson