Cannes: Event Film Takes 3D Fantasy Epic 'Viy'

Uwe Boll's Event Film and German group Kinostar have taken world sales rights to Viy, a 3D fantasy epic from Russian director Oleg Stepchenko featuring Jason Flemyng (X-Men: First Class) and Game of Thrones star Charles Dance.

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Loosely based on the short story of the same name by Russian fantasy writer Nikolai Gogol, Viy is set in the 18th century. Cartographer Jonathan Green (Flemyng), on a trip across Europe, finds himself trapped in the dark woods of Transylvania, where a strange village, cut off from civilization, hides a dark secret. The Gogol short story has been the inspiration for several films, most famously Mario Bava's schlock horror classic Black Sunday (1960).

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Produced by Alexey A. Petrukhin and Alexander Kulikov for Marins Group Entertainment and Russian Film Group, Viy is said to be budgeted at $75 million. The feature shot at Prague's Barrandov studios and the Russian/German/U.K./Czech co-production is currently in post at CinePost in Munich.

Event Film will begin sales on the feature in Cannes and plans to release a first trailer for Viy later this month.