Topping the North American box office for two weeks in a row with his Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds-starring actioner “Safe House” is providing the film’s Swedish helmer Daniel Espinosa with more clout than ever before, and making the director’s past work of interest all over again.
Variety is reporting that Espinosa’s 2010 drug world thriller “Snabba Cash” has received a July 27th U.S. release date from The Weinstein Company, with the Swedish film hitting theaters with its English title “Easy Money." TWC picked up the rights to distribute the film all the way back in 2010, with remake rights falling into the hands of Warner Bros., who attached “High School Musical” star Zac Efron for a proposed English-language remake that still appears to be in the works. The film caused a frenzy of sorts on the festival scene in 2010, especially at the Berlin Film Festival, which helped propel Espinosa to his gig on the massive “Safe House” starring two of Hollywood’s brightest movie stars.
"Snabba Cash" is based on a 2006 novel by Jens Lapidus, which tells three interlocking stories set in Stockholm about a group of friends who begin partaking in drugs and organized crime. Lead actor Joel Kinnaman portrayed a taxi driver by day, coke runner by night and his magnetic turn launched the actor into Hollywood with roles in David Fincher’s adaptation of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” AMC’s “The Killing,” and the co-lead in the David Dobkin-helmed “Arthur and Lancelot” (before it got kiboshed). Espinosa has been a hot name, with studios approaching him for a variety of gigs — "X-Men: First Class," "The Wolverine," and the Black List script "Prisoners" — before he settled on “Safe House.” Meanwhile, his "Easy Money" has already spawned a highly anticipated Swedish sequel which already went before cameras last year. For those of us who have yet to see the work that made this helmer such a hot commodity, we’ll be eagerly awaiting this one and you can bet Harvey will stamping the posters with: “From the director of Safe House.” The man knows how to market.
“Easy Money” lands on July 27th.
