Studio Babelsberg announced today that three-time Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg has begun filming in Berlin, Germany, on an untitled Cold War spy thriller starring two-time Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks (“Forrest Gump”, “Philadelphia”). The DreamWorks Studios production, which wrapped six weeks of filming in New York October 17, also stars Tony®Award winner Mark Rylance (“Jerusalem,” “Intimacy”), Academy Award® nominee Amy Ryan (“Gone Baby Gone”, Win Win”), Academy Award® nominee Alan Alda (“The Aviator,” “M*A*S*H*), Sebastian Koch (“Unknown”, “A Good Day to Die Hard”) and Burghart Klaußner (“The Reader”, “The White Ribbon”). The film will shoot on locations in Berlin-Brandenburg and in Wroclaw, Poland, continuing through the beginning of December.
Production in Germany was possible due to support from the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) and the local film funding institutions Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg. The German company Pixomondo will work on the production’s visual effects.
The film tells the true story of James Donovan, an attorney who finds himself thrust into the center of the Cold War when the CIA sends him on the near-impossible mission to negotiate the release of a captured American U-2 pilot.
20th Century Fox is co-financing the film with DreamWorks in association with Participant Media, and will distribute internationally. In addition to directing, Spielberg will produce the film with Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger. The executive producers are Adam Somner and Daniel Lupi. Studio Babelsberg is the production services company for the filming in Germany and Poland. Studio Babelsberg’s executives Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser and Henning Molfenter act as co-producers. The screenplay is by three-time Academy Award® winners Joel and Ethan Coen and Matt Charman based on an original screenplay by Charman.
Steven Spielberg's crew includes director of photography and two-time Academy Award® winner Janusz Kaminski, production designer and Academy Award® nominee Adam Stockhausen, editor and three-time Academy Award® winner Michael Kahn and costume designer Kasia Walicka-Maimone. The film will be released in theaters autumn 2015.
About DreamWorks Studios
DreamWorks Studios is a motion picture company formed in 2009 and led by Steven Spielberg in partnership with The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The company’s recent releases include “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” starring Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal and Charlotte Le Bon and directed by Lasse Hallström based on the best-selling novel by Richard C. Morais, and the car-racing actioner “Need for Speed,” starring Aaron Paul. Other releases include: the comedy “Delivery Man,” starring Vince Vaughn; Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones, which grossed over $270 million at the worldwide box office and was nominated for 12 Academy Awards with Daniel Day-Lewis winning for Best Actor; “Real Steel,” starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Shawn Levy; Spielberg’s “War Horse,” based on Michael Morpurgo’s award-winning book and nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture; and “The Help,” which resonated with audiences around the country and earned over $200 million at the box office and received four Academy Award nominations with Octavia Spencer winning for Best Supporting Actress.
DreamWorks can be found on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/DreamWorksStudios and on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/dw_studios.
About 20th Century Fox Film
One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, 20th Century Fox produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by following units: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International Productions and Twentieth Century Fox Animation. The studio also comprises 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television Distribution.
About Studio Babelsberg
Studio Babelsberg is the oldest large-scale studio complex in the world and one of Europe’s leading service providers for feature films and TV productions. Founded 1912, film history has been made in Studio Babelsberg. Countless renowned filmmakers have worked at Studio Babelsberg. With a complete set of services that make Studio Babelsberg a one-stop-shop, the studio employs one of the best film crews in the world and is well known for its production services, skillful set construction department and huge prop shops. Many of Germany’s most famous classic films have been created at the stages and facilities of Studio Babelsberg, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel, starring Marlene Dietrich. Today Studio Babelsberg offers ideal conditions for any production need. In addition, the studio offers a wide variety of co-production and financing services and opportunities. Recent productions include Wes Anderson`s "The Grand Budapest Hotel", George Clooney`s "The Monuments Men", Marjane Satrapi`s "The Voices" and Brian Percival`s "The Book Thief".
About Participant Media
Participant Media (http://www.ParticipantMedia.com) is a global entertainment company founded in 2004 by Jeff Skoll to focus on feature film, television, publishing, and digital content that inspires social change. Participant’s more than 55 films include Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth, FOOD, INC., Waiting for ‘Superman’, The Help, Contagion, and Lincoln. Participant launches campaigns that bring together government entities, foundations, schools, and others to raise awareness and drive people to take action on issues from each film or television show. Pivot (http://www.Pivot.tv), the company’s television network, is available in 45 million homes, serving passionate Millennials (18-34) with a diverse slate of talent and a mix of original series, acquired programming, films, and documentaries. TakePart (http://www.TakePart.com) is Participant’s digital news and lifestyle magazine and social action platform for the conscious consumer. Through its films, social action campaigns, digital network, and its television network, Participant seeks to entertain, encourage, and empower every individual to take action.
