Patriotic Lithuanian pic breaks records

MOSCOW -- A romantic costume drama about a 19th-century peasant rebellion has become the first Lithuanian film ever to take more than Euros 1 million ($1.3 million) at the local box office. "Tadas Blinda" -- a glossy, colorful romp that tells the true story of the Baltic country's own Robin Hood character, Tadas Blinda, who led a peasant revolt against a brutal Russian army in the 1860s -- has been seen by 9% of the country's 3.5 million citizens. Starring a locally famous singer Mantas Jankavicius in his debut acting role, the film is the first feature for director Donatas Ulvydas and also first for producer Zilvinas Naujokas. Pic had a budget of $1.35 million. Released late September on 13 screens, the film has been seen by nearly 282,000 people -- 15% more than achieved by the previous record holder, "Titanic," although its box office is 10% lower than "Avatar," which as a 3D movie sold tickets at a premium. Naujokas is one of Lithuania's leading film distributors, whose company Acme Film is the second biggest distributor in the Baltics, working with Sony, Warner and most independents, including Summit and Lionsgate. In the past two weeks, he has been in Chicago and Los Angeles promoting international sales of the film, targeting Lithuanian emigres in North America and South America. "We're doing premieres for the Lithuanian communities worldwide," Naujokas told Variety. "There have been screenings in London, Los Angeles and Chicago already, and there are plans for NY, Washington, Dublin, Cork, Edinburgh, Birmingham and other European cities too." Naujokas is also in talks with Canadian distributors and Australian Lithuanian communities, and was planning to see the Lithuanian ambassador to Argentina in Buenos Aires on Friday. "These screenings are strongly targeted at Lithuanian immigrants, but hopefully some territories will buy the movie, at least for TV and DVD," he added. Sales of the international version of the movie, "Fireheart: The Legend of Tadas Blinda," are being handled by Planeta Inform and offers were "on the table" following AFM last month, Naujokas said. A Russian dubbed version is being prepped as two of the main actors, mother and daughter Tatyana Lyutaeva and Agniya Ditkovskite, are well known in Russia, and Donatas Banionis, who played Kris Kelvin in Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky's cult 1972 sci-fi film "Solaris," also appears in the film. The film goes to DVD in Lithuania from the second half of January. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com