Details of Will Ferrell’s upcoming movie Eurovision remain firmly under wraps. But Netflix has previously confirmed that the movie will tell the story of two singers who are “given the opportunity of a lifetime to represent their country at the world’s biggest song competition.” That country, of course, is Iceland. And it seems that Netflix is doing more than using the country as a filming location and synopsis point. According to Icelandic news portal Visir, Netflix will sponsor Söngvakeppnin 2020 — Iceland’s very real national selection show for Rotterdam.
Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper says the sponsorship deal is 10 million ISK, which is around 72,000 euros. That could go a long way in helping pump up the visuals we’ll see unfold during the semi-finals on February 8 and 15, and the grand final on February 29.
Apparently Netflix wants to cement its already strong position in the Nordic nation, where nine out of every ten people already have access to the streaming service.
Visir was unable to confirm whether the sponsorship agreement stems directly from Netflix’s recent filming in Húsavík, a town on the northern coast known for its wooden church.
What’s the release date for the Netflix Eurovision movie
Netflix hasn’t confirmed the official release date for its Eurovision film. However, it’s definitely still on the cards. According to the Internet Movie Database the film is now in post production, the period when editing occurs after the movie has been shot. The official Netflix Twitter account also recently tweeted out the movie title and a short synopsis as part of a thread detailing its 2020 lineup.
EUROVISION: When aspiring musicians Lars (Will Ferrell) and Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) are given the opportunity of a lifetime to represent their country at the world’s biggest song competition, they finally have a chance to prove that any dream is a dream worth fighting for.
— Netflix Film (@NetflixFilm) January 3, 2020
It’s known that director David Dobkin also filmed in London and Edinburgh. Edinburgh residents walking past the film set shared several snaps on social media. This photo shows that the slogan of the mock contest in the film will be “Perfect Harmony” — a delightfully generic and inoffensive slogan that aligns nicely with recent slogans like “Dare to Dream”, “Come Together” and “Celebrate Diversity”.
The all-star cast includes the singer Demi Lovato, former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, and Beauty and the Beast alum Dan Stevens.
Dan will star as Alexander Lemtov, a Russian contestant. The English actor is known for his role as Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey. A pivotal character and subsequent heartthrob, he played the aristocratic character for a total of 25 episodes. More recently he’s buffeted his fame in the US as part of the cast of Legion.
Up Calton Hill at lunch, on-set of Will Farrell's new #Eurovision movie… pic.twitter.com/t5Ckj4QGx6
— Tracy Griffen (@tracygriffen) October 1, 2019
Are you excited to see the Netflix movie? What do you think the plot is? And how do you want Iceland to use the sponsorship for its national final? Let us know in the comments down below!
If Iceland going to win ESC, me and my friends will never ever watch Stranger things, believe me, this is so dirty. Never, fu…y…
I don’t know why the EBU are so friendly with Netflix. I mean, they represent a union of traditional broadcasters, whose interests they are supposed to protect – Netflix is their rival, and has eaten away at their audience substantially. What’s to gain?
Eurovision is their olive branch. Putting it on Netflix in the US is a strategic move to get Americans to watch and be informed come the release of the movie. The actual live contest is in no danger of losing ratings from Netflix, since you really only can watch it live via the livestream or your local broadcast (and the local broadcast, if you’re a participant, is the only way you know how to vote). The other Eurovision “family” events aren’t anywhere near as huge and I can’t imagine a major net loss if they don’t get the same viewing… Read more »
That’s all true, but the EBU is more about the contests they produce – their primary function is as a union, representing the interests of their members. Netflix (generally) is not in the interests of their members. It just puzzles me is all.
Iceland for the win! Hope they’ll come up with a killer song and they’ll rock the stage, and not with another boring ballad (Albania and others)… Or worse, a gimmick act…
They had a gimmick act last year, so I hope this was enough gimmick for the next 10 years…
First of all, let us consider how awesome this could be for Iceland. Budgets have never really been an issue for them (the only times they’ve pulled out were bc of relegation, never budget issues), but imagine what they could do with an even bigger one! And second, I have faith that Will Ferrell and company know what they’re doing. He’s actually been to Eurovision, Netflix have been making a real effort to increase accessibility to the contest for non-Europeans and Australians (at the very least giving the newest contests a home), and the two parody Eurovision songs they played… Read more »
The parody songs sounded like something straight out the noughties (I’m pretty sure the “Icelandic” track was strongly inspired by Euroband’s “This is my Life”). I guess they were poking fun at Eurovision songs’ shallowness and tawdriness, but gosh that was just over the top and, unless the story is set in 2008, quite misleading.
I was thinking it sounded like “This is My Life”! Look, like it or not, “Hatrid mun sigra” is the exception with Icelandic entries, especially recent ones. (If you submitted the fake song into the same Songvakeppnin that, say, Unbroken or Our Choice were able to win, it’d probably finish second). What I would like is if neither Russia nor Iceland won and it went to a random country that sent an actual ballad, since that seems to reflect modern Eurovision more and would give it a sufficiently Will Ferrell-y twist. (And go random, too. Say the winner is, oh,… Read more »
I really hope this movie turns out good. If this is a joke about eurovision it would be bad for bringing on new viewers.
Whisker, I fear it will be full of BS. Look how badly Ferrell’s last film, Holmes and Watson, was received
It’s Will Ferrell, destroying another thing he loves.. And on Netflix, which frequently pushes out crap!
No thanks!
I think this movie could actually be very good. The whole dream worth fighting for is cliche, but it works. Everyone loves a good underdog story. I’m american and when I showed my family that Will Ferrell was making a movie about my favorite thing my father told me that we were gonna host a viewing party! I really hope it turns out well. Netflix really wants this movie to be successful. They’ve put a little banner thing on the Eurovision description saying how influential it is.
I think there’s going to be some kind of competition between Russian and Icelandic representatives in the movie. The largest country versus the smallest one and the latter wins.
Where will the contest be hosted?
I meant where will the fake Eurovision be held in the movie?
Imagine if they paint it as the UK hosting it. Wish fulfillment baby.
Well they were filming in Edinburgh so maybe…
I must say, though, seeing this banner, I am surprised no host country has ever used the slogan ‘Perfect Harmony’. A little on the nose, sure, but which slogan wasn’t? Having a ‘perfect harmony’ is what a Eurovision winner should be all about, after all.
I’m assuming the plot will be unrealistic and awful. Icelanders and Russians look and sound way different than what they insisted on casting for this movie. I’d be very interested in what would happen in case of a real life Icelandic victory, though. Like, is there a plan in the drawer for where they’d host it? Netflix could make themselves useful and build an arena up there, while they’re at it.
I think they have one arena that’s about Eurovision sized
Egilshöll is the right size I think (it has a seated capacity of 15.000).
Anyway here’s a whole article dedicated to this topic:
https://www.eurovisionary.com/eurovision-news/recent-study-shows-iceland-can-host-eurovision
I feel like there are very few countries that literally have nowhere to host Eurovision whatsoever. Bulgaria couldn’t because money, and besides that there’s mostly smaller countries like Montenegro, San Marino, North Macedonia, or Albania who’d have a slight problem. But all the Nordics could (and have, save for Iceland) and pretty much all of them have some backup solution.