Director Dzhanik Fayziev has been a listed favorite at Planos, Texas niche staple Well Go USA for some years now. He first landed distributorship in the U.S. with co-director Ivan Shurhoveckiy for period sword-and-shield thriller, Furious (a.k.a. The Legend Of Kolvorat), and now the company is making its succession this year with Fayziev’s recent sci-fi successor, Cosmoball (f.k.a. Goalkeeper Of The Galaxy).
2071. Galactic wars have destroyed the Moon and changed the climate on the Earth. Now tropical forests are covering Moscow, while New York is iced all over. A huge alien ship towers over Moscow – it is the stadium where spectacular intergalactic Spaceball competitions take place. The game combines both sport and gladiator fights. When the game is on, the whole world stops in its tracks to watch it. The players are called Athletes, only they are allowed to contest because of their powers and ability to control them. Everyone adores Spaceball except Anton – a regular guy who wants to find a job to help his family. But once he reveals his powers and gets to the worlds Spaceball team. Now he’s one of the Athletes. Anton has no idea what special role is destined for him, and that the final game will become the battle for the Earth.
Screendaily‘s Jeremy Kay confirmed its acquisition on Thursday from world sales agent, Luminescence, with word of a January 2021 release. Nashe Kino is releasing the film in Russia beginning on August 27.
“Cosmoball takes a compelling storyline, top-notch visual effects, and masterful choreography and combines it all into a breathtaking family-friendly sci-fi that will intrigue everyone from sports fans to viewers interested in layered social commentary,” said Doris Pfardrescher, Well Go USA president and CEO. “Embodying this degree of cross-genre appeal is rare, but Cosmoball does it – and does it well.”
“Cosmoball touches upon eternal values like friendship, trust and good vs. evil, as well as highlights that people from different walks of life can come together and appreciate that every person is born with unique skills,” said Fayziev. “The ability to bring all of that into one film is part of the beauty of the science fiction genre.”
Fayziev also penned Cosmoball with co-scribes Andrey Rubanov, Drew Rau and Twister Murchison. The film stars Evgeny Mironov, Mikhail Yefremov, Elena Yakovleva, Dmitri Nazarov, Svetlana Ivanova, Evgeny Romantsov, Victoria Agalakova, Maria Lisovaya, Ivan Ivanovich and Elizaveta Taichenacheva, and is produced by Fayziev, with Sergey Selyanov, Moscow/St. Petersburg-based CTB Film Company, and Anton Zlatopolskiy.
