Oscar Winner F. Murray Abraham & ‘Call My Agent’ Star Stefi Celma Join Modern-Day ‘Magic Flute’, Filming Underway In Europe
EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) and Stéfi Celma (Call My Agent) are among cast joining the modern reimagining of Mozart’s popular opera, The Magic Flute. The film is being executive-produced by Roland Emmerich.
Grand Budapest Hotel and Homeland actor Abraham, who famously played Mozart’s adversary Salieri in Amadeus, will play Dr. Longbow, the headmaster of the boarding school in Austria. Celma will portray the character Papagena.
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The screen adaptation, which is now underway, is set in present-day Europe and tells the story of 17-year-old Tim Walker, who is sent from London to the Austrian alps to start his singing scholarship at the legendary Mozart boarding school. There, he discovers a century old forgotten passageway into the magical world of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
As previously announced, starring will be Jack Wolfe (The Witcher) in the dual roles of protagonist Tim Walker and Prince Tamino. Iwan Rheon (Games of Thrones) will play the role of Papageno. Supporting are Elliot Courtiour, Niamh McCormack, Tedros Teclebrhan, Waldemar Kobus, Jeanne Goursaud, Jasmin Shakeri, Larissa Sirah Herden, Asha Banks and Amir Wilson, among others.
Starring alongside the ensemble cast will be opera stars including French soprano Sabine Devieilhe, Mexican-French tenor Rolando Villazón and U.S. bass Morris Robinson.
The film will shoot in Munich at Bavaria Studios, Mozart’s birthplace of Salzburg, London and the Canary Islands.
Pic is directed by Florian Sigl, who has a background in classical music. Producers are Christopher Zwickler of Flute Film and Fabian Wolfart. Executive producer is Roland Emmerich through his Centropolis Entertainment. Timm Oberwelland, Theodor Gringel, Peter Eiff and Tobias Alexander Seiffert of Tobis Film and Quinta Media’s Stefan Konarske, who also is part of the cast, are co-producing. Casting has been done by Sophie Holland Casting.
The production is supported by national and regional funders from Germany and Austria, among them FFF Bayern, Bayerischer Bankenfonds, Hessenfilm, MFG Filmförderung, Filmförderung des Landes Salzburg, the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) and Filmstandort Austria (FISA).
The film is scheduled to be released at the end of 2022 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by Tobis Film. German sales outfit Sola Media is handling international rights, excluding U.S., Canada and France.
The prolific Abraham won an Oscar and Golden Globe for his role of Antonio Salieri in Milos Forman’s Best Picture winner, Amadeus. The stage and screen star is well known for movies including Scarface, The Name of the Rose and Inside Llewyn Davis. He can be seen in the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet.
Celma, who has starred in all four seasons of French hit series Call My Agent (Dix Pour Cent), has recently starred in Netflix action-thriller Lost Bullet and Amazon pic Happy Times.
Abraham is repped by Innovative Artists, Management Lautenbacher and Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo.
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