Currently, director Ali Samadi Ahadi is shooting the children’s movie Pettson and Findus 3 – Findus Moves Out (German title: Pettersson und Findus 3 – Findus zieht um) in Cologne’s MMC Studios. On Monday, February 8, 2017, the film starring Stefan Kurt, Marianne Sägebrecht and Max Herbrechter was presented to the press on MMC’s stage 53.
Pettson and Findus 3 is directed by multiple-award-winning director Ali Samadi Ahadi who already shot the first two Pettson and Findus movies in the MMC Studios.
The Pettson and Findus movies are based on Sven Nordqvist’s bestselling children’s books which have been translated into more than forty languages already. The illustrated books tell the story of the grumpy loner, Pettson, and his friend, the small, speaking cat, Findus, who, together, experience a series of adventures and learn what it means to have friends. In the USA the two friends are known as Festus and Mercury.
For the screenplay for Pettson and Findus 3, Thomas Springer adapted the books Findus Moves Out and Findus Goes Camping by the Swedish author.
Major parts of the live-action movie with animated characters will be shot on the tallest soundstage in the world, MMC’s stage 53 (height: 85 ft.) in Cologne, Germany.
To transfer the fanciful look of the original picture books to the film, the entire farm of grumpy Pettson was rebuilt on this soundstage.
The talking cat Findus will be animated by VFX company Chimney / Firsteight.
Like the very successful predecessors Pettson and Findus – A Little Nuisance, A Great Friendship and Pettson and Findus – The Best Christmas Ever, the third part of the series is again one of the most elaborate children’s movies ever produced in Germany.
The combination of live action with computer-animated characters requires a total budget of approx. 8 million Euros (approx. USD 8.4 million).
Findus Moves Out is a production of Tradewind Pictures in co-production with Senator Film Produktion, ZDF, and Chimney / Firsteight. On behalf of MMC, the shooting in Cologne is supervised by Bastie Griese (managing director of MMC Movies) and MMC’s account manager Tobias Velmans.
The film is backed by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, HessenFilm und Medien, MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF).
In 2018, Wild Bunch Germany will release the movie in Germany.
Photo 1: On the set of Pettson and Findus 3 – Findus Moves Out on MMC’s stage 53 in Cologne / Germany: Christina Bentlage (Film- und Medienstiftung NRW), producer Thomas Springer (Tradewind Pictures), actor Stefan Kurt, director Ali Samadi Ahadi, actress Marianne Sägebrecht, producer Helmut G. Weber (Tradewind Pictures), Oliver Kähler (Chimney / Firsteight), Sonja Ewers (Senator Filmproduktion), Sebastian Leutner (Chimney / Firsteight) and Bastie Griese (MMC Movies). © MMC Studios / Frank Hempel
Photo 2: MMC’s soundstage 53 in Cologne, Germany: The tallest soundstage in the world. © MMC Studios / Guido Ohlenbostel
