Cast including Jim Broadbent and Ray Stevenson added to action adventure starring Samuel L Jackson, which begins shooting this week.

Principal photography is to begin tomorrow [Sept 12] on action adventure feature Big Game, starring Samuel L Jackson at the US President alongside Onni Tommila as his surprise teen sidekick.

New cast additions include Jim Broadbent, last seen in Cloud Atlas, Closed Circuit and Le Week-End, and fellow British actor Ray Stevenson, known for roles in Thor and GI Joe: Retaliation.

Also joining the cast is German actor Mehmet Kurtulus (Short Sharp Shock).

Big Game will shoot for eight weeks on locations across Bavaria and at Bavaria Film Studios.

The film follows Oskari (Tommila), a shy 13-year old boy who ventures into a vast local forest, armed only with a bow and arrow and the aim of returning with a prize to prove himself.  

But when Air Force One is shot down by terrorists, Oskari discovers the President of the United States (Jackson) in an escape pod and the fate of the most powerful man in the world lies in his hands. With the terrorists closing in, Oskari and the President must team up to survive.

The director is Jalmari Helander, who co-wrote the story with Petri Jokiranta.

Director of photography is Mika Orasmaa (Rare Exports, Iron Sky) with Scanline VFX (The Avengers) on board for all special effects. 

Helander described the film as “an action adventure story on an epic scale”.

“I’m delighted to be taking this genre on as it has always been very close to my heart, as action-packed adventure stories contain the elements that I believe make movies that are worth watching,” he added.

A Finnish-German-UK co-production, Petri Jokiranta will produce under the Subzero banner, alongside Will Clarke and Andy Mayson for Altitude Film Entertainment, with Jens Meurer of Egoli Tossell Film as the German producer.

Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Dredd) is executive producer.

Financiers include: Finnish Film Foundation; YLE; Nordisk Film & TV Fond; Visionplus Fund; Bavarian Film Partners; Bavarian Film and Television Fund (FFFBayern); German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), along with Comerica Bank Entertainment Group and KfW Bankengruppe.

Big Game is the first international project to have received backing from FFF Bayern’s special programme for international co-productions.

Altitude Film Sales is handling worldwide sales, with Altitude and WME jointly representing North American rights.

Entertainment One has taken all rights to the film for the UK, Ascot Elite for all German-speaking territories and Nordisk for Scandinavia.