Tykwer's "International" to open Berlin film fest

COLOGNE, Germany (Hollywood Reporter) - Tom Tykwer's "The International," an action thriller starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, will open the 59th Berlin International Film Festival on February 5.

Screening out of competition, the feature will be Tykwer's second Berlinale opening, following "Heaven," which bowed at the 2002 event.

But unlike "Heaven," which was an art-house film more along the lines of Tykwer's "Winter Sleepers" (1997) or "The Princess and the Warrior" (2000), "The International" marks the German director's jump into the major leagues.

The director of indie hit "Run, Lola, Run" (1998) proved he could handle a big budget with his last picture, the opulent olfactory epic "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" (2006). But "The International" is Tywker's first film with a U.S. studio. Sony co-produced with Germany's Studio Babelsberg and will release the film in Germany February 12 and stateside, via Columbia Pictures, February 13.

"The International" is also Tykwer's first all-out action movie. The conspiracy thriller follows Owen as an Interpol agent who discovers that the world's largest bank is secretly engaging in money laundering and illegal arms trading. Watts co-stars as a Manhattan assistant district attorney who joins Owen on his race around the world to bring those responsible to justice.

The film was shot largely in Berlin and Studio Babelsberg with location work in New York, Istanbul and Milan.

The 59th Berlinale runs February 5-15, 2009.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter