Renny Harlin and Keith Kjarval Reteam for Action Thriller Athina
Renny Harlin will direct Athina, an action thriller about two estranged brothers hunting through Athens for a missing young woman.
The film is the next feature planned together by Harlin and writer-producer Keith Kjarval. Kjarval wrote the script and will produce it through his Unified Pictures production company, his own outfit for developing and mounting features, according to Deadline.
In screen terms, those credits mean distinct jobs. The writer creates the story and dialogue. The director leads the creative work on set and in the edit, guiding performance, camera and pace. The producer handles the practical build, from budget and hiring to schedule and delivery. Kjarval is doing the first and third jobs here. Harlin is doing the second.
The story stays close to the brothers. Estranged means long separated and out of contact. They return to each other out of need, not warmth, and descend into Athens' criminal underworld to find the young woman. That search traps them between two powerful families. It also forces them back into the violent past that tore them apart.
Filming is scheduled in Europe next spring. A spring shoot usually means several months of preparation through autumn and winter first, with casting, locations and crew locked before cameras roll. The announcement names Europe as the base. It does not name a country, city or start date beyond the season.
Athina continues a working run for the pair. Kjarval is the producer and Harlin is the director on the upcoming film The Beast, according to Deadline. That project comes first in the public sequence. Athina is positioned as the follow-up.
For viewers, this means a simple engine with room to move. Two brothers. One missing person. A city where organised crime holds power on more than one side. The Athens setting gives the chase streets, neighbourhoods and a port city to work with, rather than an unnamed backdrop. The family split gives it a second line to play, alongside the search itself.
No cast has been announced. There is no release date yet, which is normal at this stage. A project set for next spring is still in the assembly phase, where the script leads and the rest of the company forms around it.
