Based on the true story, “Kidnapping Freddy Heineken” tells the story of the Heineken International CEO’s kidnapping in 1983. Anthony Hopkins stars as Heineken, who is taken by five criminals and ransomed for 35 million Dutch guilders. Sam Worthington (“Avatar”), Jim Sturgess, and Ryan Kwanten co-star as kidnappers.
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“There are two ways a man can be rich in this life. He can have a lot of money, or he can have a lot of friends. But he cannot have both,” Hopkins’ Heineken says in the film’s first trailer. He certainly wasn’t making any friend with his captors. The trailer goes on to detail the mental games Heineken played as his kidnappers pulled off a most impressive crime.
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Historically, Heineken’s kidnapping resulted in the largest-ever ransom paid for an individual. The film, directed by Daniel Alfredson, goes into explicit detail with every step of this plot, as well as the aftermath. It turns out, scoring a huge payout might not be the answer the kidnappers were looking for.
“Kidnapping Freddy Heineken” was written by William Brookfield and Peter R. de Vries. Produced by Informant Media, and European Film Company, the film is currently in post-production toward a release in early 2015.