Baltasar Kormákur’s Contraband, starring Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale and Giovanni Ribisi, opened in the US on Friday and has performed well over expectations. The film tops the box office this weekend with a $24.1m gross, making it the biggest opener ever for studio Working Title. This is the first time an Icelandic director has a film at the top of the US box office.
The thriller is based on Icelandic film Reykjavik Rotterdam (2008), directed by Óskar Jónasson, written by Jónasson and Arnaldur Indridason and starring Baltasar Kormákur. It depicts a former smuggler who heads to Panama to score millions of dollars in counterfeit bills in order to protect his family from a drug lord.
