“THE JESTER” TO SHOOT IN BAVARIA

Actor Peter Dinklage and director Mark Palansky have already worked on two films together, and now their third project is due to be shot in Bavaria: the thriller THE JESTER will be in the style of GAME OF THRONES and centers on a puppeteer who, disguised as a court jester, plans his campaign of revenge. The Munich-based Aventin Filmproduktion is involved, with the producers Wolfgang Behr and Bernd Schlötterer producing together with the English co-producer Leon Clarance, of London-based Motion Picture Capital. Principle photography is set for the second half of 2016 in Bavaria. Last year, the initiative Filmkulisse Bayern presented director Mark Palansky with an impressive selection of locations which were able to convince the director to shoot his next project in Bavaria.

THE JESTER is based on the short story Hop Frog by Edgar Allan Poe: Pock, a small puppeteer, witnesses the King’s knights brutally murdering his uncle and kidnapping his best friend and secret love Tripetta. In order to free Tripetta and avenge his uncle’s death, he applies for a position as a court jester and wins over the despotic King’s favor. Soon thereafter, the number of missing persons begins to rise.

FFF Bayern is supporting the project within the framework of its special program for international co-productions with 1.5 million euros. Other projects which have benefitted from the special international co-production program include BIG GAME with Samuel L. Jackson, THE HAPPY PRINCE by Rupert Everett, including the director himself as well as Colin Firth and Emily Watson among the cast, SNOWDEN by Oliver Stone with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, and the CAPTAIN AMERICA films CIVIL WAR and THE LAKE, to which the Bavarian VFX producers Trixter and ScanlineVFX will be contributing their expertise.