The last feature to roll out from the now disbanded Norwegian state production outfit Norsk Film will benefit from the highest p&a budget ever for a local film.

Thomas Robsahm's $3.4m The Greatest Thing, about a rural femme fatale who simultaneously marries three men only to run away from all of them, was last week granted a promotional budget of $400,000, a figure which puts even the biggest US blockbusters to shame, according to veteran distributor Njorn Hownvoll. The costume epic is based on a literary classic by Norwegian author Bjornstjerne Bjornson and stars Herbjorg Kraakevik, a popular local folksinger in her first screen appearance. Robsahm previously directed romantic comedy SOS, while producer Tom Remlov is better known for films such as Aberdeen and Bloody Angels.

The Greatest Thing will also open the 29th edition of the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugeund on August 27. The film will then be screened for the royal family in Oslo and released on 50 screens by Egmont Columbia TriStar.

The Greatest Thing is expected to ride on the wave of popular local hits such as Detector, Cool And Crazy and Elling - all of which are based on either works by best-selling authors or are regional curiosities with a primarily local appeal. Public broadcaster NRK has already bought the feature film as a two-part mini-series for $271,000.