A press release from Janos Honkonen of Iron Sky:
The creators of the Finnish-German-Australian dark sci-fi comedy Iron Sky were surprised to found out late last week that a game company called Ziiso that’s apparently operating in China is creating an iPad game based on their film. This Thursday the game called Iron Sky: The Last Territory (or Iron Sky for iPad) was published in iTunes App Store. It use some Iron Sky ship designs, some character likenesses, the back story and even the tagline—none of which are authorized.
“This is very unfortunate for us. We use crowd funding and merchandize sales to actually fund making this film in a very concrete way,” said the director of Iron Sky Timo Vuorensola. “Moreover these guys are trying to make the game sound like it’s our official product, even adding it to our Wikipedia page. This means it’s not only an intellectual property grab, but a downright scam. Yes, it makes us angry that these people are riding on the coat tails of our hard work and taking money from unsuspecting fans who might think they are funding the film by buying the game.”
“We have absolutely nothing against unofficial fan products and fan art, though—we love seeing what kinds of amazing and crazy things people come up with. That’s a completely different thing from taking money from our fans with unauthorized Iron Sky products—money that was meant to be used to fund the film.”
The game has been reported to Apple and the team is waiting for the resolution to their complaint.
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Iron Sky is a dark science fiction comedy that takes place in the year 2018, when the Nazis, who fled the Earth to the dark side of the Moon in 1945, return to claim the Earth. The film is Finnish-German-Australian co-production with a budget of 7.5 million euros. It’s directed by Timo Vuorensola and produced by Tero Kaukomaa (Blind Spot Pictures), Samuli Torssonen (visual effects producer, Energia), Oliver Damian (27 Films), Cathy Overett & Mark Overett (New Holland Pictures) with San Fu Maltha as the executive producer. The cast includes Julia Dietze (1 ½ Ritter), Götz Otto (Schindler’s List, Tomorrow Never Dies, Downfall), Christopher Kirby (The Matrix Reloaded & Revolutions, Daybreakers, Space: Above and Beyond), Udo Kier (Dogville, Dancer in the Dark), Peta Sergeant (Satisfaction), Stephanie Paul (Separation City, Film School Confidential), and Tilo Prückner (The Neverending Story). The screenplay is written by the acclaimed sci-fi writer Johanna Sinisalo (Nebula Award nominee) and Michael Kalesniko (Private Parts). The film will be completed in December 2011 and released in April 4th 2012, and the world sales is handled by Stealth Media Group.