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The Finnish superhero movie Rendel, created by director Jesse Haaja, was a straightforward attempt to build a basic urban vigilante feature, and even though it by no means conveyed any sense of originality in narrative or characterization whatsoever, it was at least entertaining. As an origin story, Rendel ticked all the trope checklists: witnessing the death of his family turns a common man into an masked avenging angel, one-man battles against a powerful criminal empire, grim and gritty treatment, and the darkened path of violence and vengeance doing a number on the psyche of the protagonist—all the expectations fans of the genre might have had were fulfilled.

However, the same cannot be said about its lackluster sequel, Rendel 2: Cycle of Revenge, which fails to convey any cohesive sense of direction from the beginning to the end. Leaving aside the problems with the plotline or characterizations, the movie cannot...

Toronto-based genre specialist Raven Banner has unveiled a packed sales slate ahead of the EFM in Berlin, led by Finnish revenge saga Rendel 2: Cycle Of Revenge.

Jesse Haaja’s sequel (pictured) to the 2017 cult hit Rendel: Dark Vengeance stars Kristofer Gummerus as the titular character who wages war against the Vala Corporation to avenge his family’s death.

Raven Banner has also acquired Chris Cronin’s folk horror debut The Moor, about a group of investigators who must venture deep into a haunted moor to solve the death of a childhood friend. The film premiered at FrightFest in London,...

Comic-Con@Home starts today and there are plenty of events for genre fans to take part in! Here's a look at what Shout! Factory has in store for the virtual edition of this convention:

From the Press Release: Pop culture fans rejoice! Although the traditional San Diego Comic-Con will not be held this year, Shout! Factory is pleased to announce it will be participating in the convention’s official virtual event, Comic-Con@Home, as well as programming supplementary content for the company’s streaming channel, Shout! Factory TV. Comic-Con@Home will be held on the same dates as the previously canceled Comic-Con, July 22-26, 2020. All aspects of Comic-Con@Home 2020 are free and there are no limits to how many can attend a panel. MSTies worldwide can tune into the Comic-Con@Home channel on Thursday, July 23 at 6 pm Pt, for Mystery Science Theater 3000 – A Panel Panorama. Join Erik Adams (The Av Club...

Stars: Kristofer Gummerus, Rami Rusinen, Renne Korppila, Matti Onnismaa, Johnny Vivash, Bianca Bradey, Sheila Shah, Michael Majalahti, Michael Hall, Alina Tomnikov, Aake Kalliala, Reino Nordin, Tero Salenius, Sami Huhtala | Written by Pekka Lehtosaari, Miika J. Norvanto, Timo Puustinen | Directed by Jesse Haaja

Hans(el) und (G)rendel

There is something uniquely American in the unashamed virtues and patriotism wrapped up in traditional Superhero films. It is this un-ironic earnestness that I admire but find impossible to emulate personally. Superman, with his endlessly positivity is too vanilla for me. Probably more importantly I am, deep down too sneering, too cynical to fully embrace or relate to the struggles of the invincible man with the shopping list of powers.

Speaking of heroes… lots of people like to root for John McClane in the original Die Hard as the consummate underdog. Even watching as a kid, I rooted for the actual underdogs of the movie,...

The company has also sold ‘Over The Limit’ to Canada and Spain.

Austrian documentary specialist Autlook has sold Finlay Pretsell’s Time Trial, its film about Tour de France cyclist David Millar, to Dogwoof in the UK and Mindjazz for Germany and Austria.

It has also secured deals to Swedish broadcaster Svt, Danish broadcasters Dr, and Dutch broadcaster Vpro and is in final negotiations for a theatrical release in The Netherlands, Australia, Italy and North America

Autlook has also sold Marta Prus’ Russian gymnast film Over The Limit to Blue Ice for Canada and Parallel 40 for Spain. The film premiered in competition at Idfa.

Shooting will start in early 2019, with Jesse Haja returning to direct.

Toronto-based genre sales specialist Raven Banner has launched worldwide sales in Cannes on a sequel to its Finnish superhero film Rendel.

Producers Black Lion Pictures and Frozen Flame Pictures are planning an early 2019 shoot on Rendel 2, which sees Jesse Haaja return to directing duties. Raven Banner licensed Rendel in more than 60 countries.

“I can’t even describe how excited I am for this,” Haaja said of the ongoing saga of the masked avenger who fights a criminal organisation. “It was my lifelong dream to get Rendel to the big screens.

Infusion will help Toronto-based genre specialist offer competitive Mg’s for product.

Us-based De Angeles Films has expanded its financing deal with Toronto genre distributor and sales agent Raven Banner Entertainment.

The new deal will enable Raven Banner to offer competitive Mg’s for production, worldwide acquisitions, and sales titles.

“We are expanding on the very successful relationship we’ve built with Raven Banner over this past year,” De Angeles managing partners Gregor Habsburg and Jacquelyn Frisco said.

“As a producer and as a distributor, Raven Banner, has shown an unparalleled level of commitment to its filmmakers, it’s market and it’s product. We are not changing what we do, or how we do it – we will simply be doing more of it.”

De Angeles’ film production credits include Coffee, Kill Boss, 3D horror-comedy Hellbenders, which the company co-produced, and horror title June.

“We are confident this expanded relationship with De Angeles will empower us,” Raven...

Infusion will help Toronto-based genre specialist offer competitive Mg’s for product.

Us-based De Angeles Films has expanded its financing deal with Toronto genre distributor and sales agent Raven Banner Entertainment.

The new deal will enable Raven Banner to offer competitive Mg’s for production, worldwide acquisitions, and sales titles.

“We are expanding on the very successful relationship we’ve built with Raven Banner over this past year,” De Angeles managing partners Gregor Habsburg and Jacquelyn Frisco said.

“As a producer and as a distributor, Raven Banner, has shown an unparalleled level of commitment to its filmmakers, it’s market and it’s product. We are not changing what we do, or how we do it – we will simply be doing more of it.”

De Angeles’ film production credits include Coffee, Kill Boss, 3D horror-comedy Hellbenders, which the company co-produced, and horror title June.

“We are confident this expanded relationship with De Angeles will empower us,” Raven...

Living in Chicago, I spend much of my year being jealous of all the people I see online going to the various genre film festivals held around the parts of the country that aren’t here… until now.

For the first time ever, Chicago is getting its very own full-blown genre festival with Cinepocalypse, a week-long event running November 2nd–9th at the Music Box Theatre, the best place to see a movie in the entire city. Formerly the Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival (which I have attended since it began and always completely loved), Cinepocalypse now has a new venue, a larger and more ambitious slate of programming, and dozens of special guests. It’s going to be bigger and better than any festival of its kind the city has ever seen, and I can’t wait to be there as much as possible to see as many cool movies as possible.

Zombies, serial killers, and all manner of creepy creatures will descend upon the inaugural Cinepocalypse film festival in November 2nd–9th at Chicago's Music Box Theatre, and the first wave of programming has officially been announced, including Tyler MacIntyre's Tragedy Girls, Ted Geoghegan's Mohawk, and the 35mm uncut version of Suspiria.

Press Release: August 31, 2017 - The Music Box Theatre is proud to announce their first wave of programming and guests for the debut year of Cinepocalypse (an evolution to the program design of Bruce Campbell's Horror Film Festival), which will take place November 2 - 9 at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre. The Midwest’s largest gathering of genre films and fans, the festival’s organizers are proud to have acclaimed screenwriter Simon Barrett (You’re Next, The Guest) guest host the entirety of the festival.

Writer/director Joe Carnahan (The Grey, Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team) will guest curate “Blood,...

Rendel Trailer and Posters Jesse Haaja‘s Rendel (2017) movie trailer and movie posters star Kristofer Gummerus, Johnny Vivash, Bianca Bradey, Sheila Shah, and Michael Hall. Rendel‘s plot synopsis: “A faceless hero Rendel is at open and ruthless war against the Vala organization: no mercy, no prisoners. One hit after another, this dark avenger destroys both the criminals [...]

Continue reading: Rendel (2017) Movie Trailer: A Faceless Hero Battles Evil in Jesse Haaja’s Superhero Film...

"What the hell is Rendel?" The first official trailer has arrived online for a Finnish, futuristic superhero film titled Rendel, which is the name of the masked superhero character that it's about. Created by the film's director, Jesse Haaja, Rendel is a "faceless" superhero fighting against the Vala criminal organization in the "cold dystopia" of a fictionalized version of a Finnish city called Mikkeli. This "superhero story" is a bit darker and grittier than what we see out of Hollywood, but still has some of the same tropes of the genre. Starring Finnish actor Kristofer Gummerus as Rendel, along with Matti Onnismaa, Minttu Tamski, Roosa-Maria Makinen, Alina Tomnikov, Bianca Bradey, and Johnny Vivash. This looks it could be cool, but I'm also a bit worried it might also be straight-to-vhs level terrible. Check out the footage below. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Jesse Haaja's Rendel, direct from...

A few details are coming from Cannes on Rendel. Rendel is Finland's premiere superhero movie. And, the first trailer shows a dark and tormented protagonist. Hidden behind a mask, he seeks vengeance, on those responsible for the untested vaccine Nh25. It has left him and others permanently scarred. Soon, the film will have its World Premiere, at this prestigious event. For more on the story, Rendel focuses on an evil corporation. It is flooding the market with its rogue vaccine. Rendel pushes back. But, the company, Vala, is determined to spread their vaccine further, despite its brutal side effects. Outside of Cannes, the film will be starting a film festival run, this Summer. Fans of darker heroes, or darker material will want to check this foreign film out as sales agent Raven Banner Entertainment brings the film to several, select theatres. All of the available details on Rendel are below.

It was right around this time last year that word surfaced on Finnish superhero film Rendel, a vigilante style masked hero picture based on the original creation of Jesse Haaja. The basics here are fairly familiar - vigilante in mask and suit battles criminal underworld - but the quality of the original stills and teaser certainly captured the attention and they're back now with a full trailer. They clearly don't have a Marvel / DC budget to work with here but that's fine because they're clearly not trying to make a Marvel / DC film and their resources are very well used, with strong production values. Language used is a mixture of Finnish and English and, yep, the keen eyes will spot Wyrmwood star Bianca...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

We’ve been eagerly anticipated the violent Finnish superhero film Rendel from director Jesse Haaja, so we’re super happy to hear that it has picked up a distributor at Cannes. That distributor comes in the form of Raven Banner, who will… Continue Reading →

The post Cannes 2016: Brutal Finnish Superhero Film Rendel Lands Distribution appeared first on Dread Central.

Toronto-based Raven Banner has acquired worldwide sales rights excluding Scandinavia to Finland’s first superhero film.

Rendel is styled as being in the vein of The Punisher and Spawn as a vigilante targets a criminal organisation known as Vala.

Producer, Miika J. Norvanto said: “We’re thrilled to be continuing our relationship with Raven Banner.

“Their marketing strategy on our previous film, Bunny The Killer Thing was spot-on and we knew they’d be a perfect fit for Rendel.”

Raven Banner co-managing partners Michael Paszt and James Fler brokered the deal with producers, Norvanto of Black Lion Pictures, Timo Puustinen and Trevor Morgan Doyle of Frozen Flame Pictures and Rendel creator/director, Haaja...

News out of the market at Cannes is that local lads Raven Banner Entertainment have landed the worldwide sales rights for Finland's first superhero movie. Rendel. The trailer has been out for a while and you may have a look at it below, as well as some pics from the production. This film is shot and I am told that it is now into post, which may mean we still have a while until we see the completed film. Raven Banner, the genre specialist has landed worldwide sales rights (excluding Scandinavia) to Finland's first superhero movie, Rendel, directed by newcomer, Jesse Haaja. In the vein of ‘The Punisher’ and ‘Spawn’ Rendel is a stylized gritty antihero story about a vigilante seeking revenge against...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

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Finland's first superhero movie, Rendel, has found a sales agent in Raven Banner Entertainment who landed the rights at Cannes.

Directed by first-time director, Jesse Haaja, Rendel is based on his own own comic character who has already gained tens of thousands of followers and enthusiasts from all around the world and the film's trailer has proven to be something of a hit online with more than 3 million views to date.

Synopsis:

A Finnish superhero, a masked vigilante Rendel seeks for revenge and fights against Vala, the huge cri [Continued ...]...

We love superhero films round these parts, so we’re proud to present the trailer for Rendel, the first Finnish superhero film, which was recently released on its official Facebook page. Rendel, like many heroes of the night, is driven by… Continue Reading →

The post Trailer for First Finnish Superhero Film Rendel and Exclusive Statement from Director Jesse Haaja appeared first on Dread Central.