The production cost of filming The Odyssey in Iceland was estimated at over 2.5 billion ISK, with reimbursements from the state treasury expected to reach nearly 900 million ISK — the second-highest reimbursement ever granted for a film project in Iceland, reports RÚV.
Security surrounding the filming of The Odyssey this summer was so strict that the Icelandic production company Truenorth was not given the screenplay itself, but only a list of the scenes to be shot in Iceland and what was to happen in each of them.
The Odyssey, part of Homer’s epic poems, has inspired countless artists — but rarely, if ever, has there been such anticipation for its retelling as now, directly linked to director Christopher Nolan, known for his Inception, Oppenheimer and many more.
The Odyssey is set to be Christopher’s biggest film yet, with a budget of 30 billion ISK and Hollywood cast: Matt Damon, Tom Holland and Zendaya.
Exciment ahead of the film’s release is huge, and tickets to some of the cinemas where the film will be shown have bee sold out in July last year, a full year before its premiere.
It is therefore unsurprising that when representatives of the Icelandic production company Truenorth applied for reimbursement, they emphasised the promotional value of filming in Iceland.
In late August, RÚV requested all documents from the reimbursement committee regarding the filming in Iceland. The request was initially denied outright but that decision was later overturned following an appeal to the Information Appeals Committee.
The documents were handed over this week. Some information had been redacted, but according to Jónas Már Torfason, the new chair of the reimbursement committee, more details may be released once production is completed and the film has premiered.
Tight security and few details
Truenorth’s plan called for 10 days of filming, 22 days of post-production, and a crew of 520 people, working across three locations: Hjörleifshöfði, Markarfljót, and Snæfellsnes.
The documents reveal that interest in Christopher Nolan’s films is so great that one of the biggest risks in their production is theft or leakage of scripts to the media. Security is therefore extremely strict: crew members never receive the script in advance, nor is it ever sent by email. Truenorth was given only a list of the scenes to be filmed in Iceland and what would happen in each.
The application scored well under the reimbursement committee’s evaluation system, which has a maximum of 46 points; the project received 37.
With reimbursements for The Odyssey likely to total nearly 900 million ISK, This would make it the second-highest reimbursement granted for a film project in Iceland; the highest, 4 billion ISK, went to the TV series True Detective.
There is, however, some uncertainty about the future of these reimbursements. When the Prime Minister’s efficiency task force presented its proposals in March, one of the ideas was to impose a cap on reimbursements. According to the government’s budget proposal, reimbursements for film production are set to decrease significantly, by 2 billion ISK, to 4 billion ISK next year.
Additionally, the parliamentary agenda includes a bill from the Minister of Culture proposing a temporary three-year extension of the reimbursement system, with increased emphasis on children’s programming. The bill is expected to be introduced next month.
Last year, the Grapevine reported that an executive at the American television network HBO influenced legislation passed by Alþingi.
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