The filmmakers behind the cult sci-fi franchise Iron Sky are blasting off to the Red Planet with a new politically-charged space saga. Producers Tero Kaukomaa and director Timo Vuorensola are raising funds for a planned 15 million euro trilogy, titled 'Deep Red,' that will send the Communists, rather than Nazis, to Mars.
What this really means is a wild ride of absurdist space satire as the filmmakers shift the battleground to the red planet, where a secret Soviet colony has been thriving in isolation since the 1950s. As an American astronaut crash-lands on Mars and discovers this hidden Communist utopia, the trilogy promises to unpeel layers of algorithmic control and surveillance propping up the system.
A Marxist Dream... or Dystopian Nightmare?
The Deep Red trilogy will be produced as a single "epic event," with the three films shot back-to-back much like Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. The bigger picture here is that the filmmakers are doubling down on their signature blend of political satire and ambitious world-building, aiming to deliver a timely exploration of Communist ideology taken to its extreme.
Just like the Iron Sky franchise, the new trilogy will lean into an over-the-top, darkly comedic tone to unpack complex themes. As Son of a Pitch describes, the isolated Martian colony initially appears to be a "Marxist dream state" before revealing itself as a dystopian nightmare of "algorithmic control and absolute surveillance."
The Deep Red trilogy marks the latest expansion of the Iron Sky cinematic universe, which has already spawned two feature films, a web series, and an open invitation to fans to create their own short films and games. Clearly, these filmmakers have big plans to keep challenging audiences with their unique brand of politically-charged sci-fi.