Dennis Lehane’s production company Hans Bubby has acquired the English-speaking remake rights for Finnish dramedy “100 Litres of Gold.”
Directed by Teemu Nikki, it deals with a serious problem: there’s nothing to drink and a wedding is around the corner. Sisters Taina and Pirkko promised to brew 100 liters of their famous self-brewed beer, sahti. Their new batch is so tasty, they drink it all themselves — the day before the event. Now they must “procure” another 100 liters by any means necessary.
The film, produced by It’s Alive Films, premiered in Finland in March 2025, and quickly became the most- watched domestic film of the year so far. Nikki’s also behind “Euthanizer,” Finland’s Oscar entry in 2018, and Venice-winning “The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic.” His short “All Inclusive” was presented at Cannes in 2019.
“It’s hilarious, outrageous and concerned with people who live on the margins. My favorite kind of story,” said Lehane. “I pitched it to my partner, Mackenzie Pietzak, pretty much the day I landed back in the U.S. She fell for it as hard as I did, and we decided to try an American remake.”
Previously, Lehane wrote the screenplay for the Fox Searchlight feature “The Drop,” based on his original short story, and created Apple series “Black Bird” starring Taron Egerton. His new original series “Smoke” will premiere on Apple TV+ on June 27.
“I got an email from some guy called Dennis when I was sightseeing at the colosseum during Rome Film Fest. I replied something stupid and later realized that this ‘Dennis’ was actually Dennis Lehane. And then I called Jani to check if I was dreaming,” recalled Teemu Nikki.
“It’s fantastic that a writer with such a high profile is interested in our film. I feel like a fanboy!,” added writer-producer Jani Pösö, who co-owns It’s Alive Films with Nikki.
While the film’s set in Nikki’s hometown, “local is global,” he argued.
Pösö agreed: “The whole world is full of places where the community is wrapped around that one thing. The best tomatoes in the world, the best footballer in the world. In [Finnish municipality] Sysmä, that’s sahti. The themes we’re handling here are universal: sometimes you just have to leave to be able to live.”
While already acclaimed critically, the team wasn’t expecting to set the box office on fire.
“We Finns don’t get excited easily. It took them ten years to find our films and enjoy our humor,” joked Nikki, while Pösö credited marketing and distribution strategy by Finnish distributor Nelonen.
“I think there’s at least three things. Firstly, the film is really good, maybe the best we’ve made so far. Secondly, we’ve been smashing our heads against the wall for a long time — now, the wall has finally surrendered.”
It’s Alive Films produced with I Wonder Pictures from Italy and Smile Entertainment from Denmark. A Helsinki-based production company, It’s Alive Films, founded in 2013, has produced 8 feature films, 3 TV-series and 18 short films.
Lehane is repped by Echo Lake Entertainment, CAA and Hansen, Jacobsen Teller.
Rami Rusinen