Sony Pictures bought the rights to the comedy “There’s Something in the Barn”, which is currently showing in Norwegian cinemas.

The film starring, among others, Henriette Steenstrup and Calle Hellevang-Larsen tells the story of an American family who moves to a farm in Gudbrandsdalen, where they find themselves in conflict with a barn elf who lives in the barn.

The film will be released in the United States and Canada, as well as several other countries, before Christmas.

– First time

– A great honor, says director Magnus Martens in a press release.

The film will be available on “video on demand” (VOD) in the United States and Canada starting December 5.

– To my knowledge, this is the first time that a Norwegian film has been sold to one of the biggest American studios. This makes me extremely proud, says producer Jørgen Storm Rosenberg in 74 Entertainment.

In addition to a number of Norwegian actors, Martin Starr (known, among others, from Spider-Man) and Amrita Acharia (known, among others, from Game of Thrones) play the main roles in the film.

Martens says there are several reasons he’s excited about the U.S. launch.

– We have never hidden the fact that American Christmas films inspired us. Notably “Gremlins”, but also “Help, it’s Christmas vacation!” and “Home Alone.” We look forward to seeing how they react to the references placed in a Norwegian context, he says.

Sold in several countries

The film will also be released in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Hong Kong, Japan and Greece.

– Fjøsnissen is a typical Norwegian personality, who will probably be perceived as rather exotic in other markets. Although we are showing the goblin in a genre film here, we have also done work to correctly represent this character based on Norwegian folklore, explains Martens.