Filmmaker David Sandberg is in-development on a new mystery project, according to details reported on Sunday by Variety’s Alex Ritman. Sandberg is partnered with mobile gaming company Supercell co-founder Mikko Kodisoja, who is also financing the film.
The news comes days after a ten-minute sizzle reel was leaked online for Kung Fury: The Movie, a full bore neon-lit 80s-style retro fantasy action spectacle starring and directed by Sandberg in his feature follow-up to the 2015 shortfilm, “Kung Fury”. Sandberg also stars in the role and is joined by Michael Fassbender, Alexander Shipp, and Arnold Schwarzenegger among its roster.
The reel was the latest unforeseen milestone for many fans who waited with baited breath on the project. Per Sandberg via Ritman’s reporting, Creasun Media’s Creasun Entertainment USA, who came aboard to provide two-thirds of the overall budget including for VFX, never came through:
“Once we started getting to VFX, things started to really slow down — and things became a bit weird,” he says. “And then it turned out that our Chinese financier had basically stopped all payments.”
The details get even thicker, including mounting litigation that followed despite a settlement won in Sandberg’s favor, and safeguards that the director says were put in place to avoid this kind of drama. The report also notes that Creasun filed a counterclaim at one point stating that producers stole money from the production, while auditor checks found those allegations to be baseless.
“They just kind of stonewalled every single attempt to solve the issue,” he says. “And it was just really heartbreaking for me as an artist who’s worked on this for years. And there are so many people who have poured their hearts into this, and I feel super terrible for them.”
Kung Fury: The Movie otherwise has a finished edit with just $10 million needed to complete post-production and VFX. Sanberg is reportedly optimistic that the film will finally see the light of day, as it’s now no longer a matter of if, but when the movie will release.
Read more at Variety.
Lead image: David Sandberg in “Kung Fury” (2015), via Moving Sweden