James R | On 21, Jan 2022

Amazon has acquired the rights to The Interpreter, the latest film from Guy Ritchie.

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, the movie follows a soldier who returns to Afghanistan to repay a debt to his interpreter.

Gyllenhaal plays Sgt John Kinley, who is teamed with interpreter Ahmed to survey the region. But when their unit is ambushed, they are the only two survivors, with Ahmed risking his life to get the injured Kinley back to safety. On US soil, Kinley finds out that Ahmed and his family were not given passage to the USA, as they were promised – and so he heads back to Afghanistan before the local militia reaches them first.

Ritchie has written the script with writing-producing collaborator Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies. Ritchie and Atkinson are producing via their Toff Guys production banner alongside Josh Berger and STXfilms’ John Friedberg. (This is the third film Ritchie has made with STX, following The Gentlemen and Operation Fortune.)

Amazon has reportedly paid for more than half of its budget. Amazon Prime Video will hold the rights in Europe, as well as in Australia, South Africa, Latin America and Canada, while MGM will hold the rights in the USA and give it a theatrical release in the States – an interesting split of rights, given that Amazon is currently working through the consequences of its deal to acquire MGM.

Russian tech firm Yandex, which owns local streamer Kinopoisk, will hold the rights in its home territories, while indie distributors have picked up the rights in various Asia markets. Olga Filipuk will exec-produce for Kinopoisk.

Filming will begin in the coming week in Spain.

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