Tuomas Kantelinen has been hired to score the upcoming historical epic Swords and Sceptres. The film marks the directorial debut of Indian choreographer Swati Bhise and stars Rupert Everett, Derek Jacobi, Nathaniel Parker, Ben Lamb, Jodhi May and Devika Bhise who also co-wrote the screenplay with the director and Olivia Emden. The movie tells the story of Rani Lakshmibai, the Queen of Jhansi, who led her army against the East India Company in the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. Swati Bhise is also producing the project for Cayenne Pepper Productions. Swords and Sceptres is currently in post-production and is expected to premiere later this year. (Screen Daily)

Kantelinen (Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan, The Legend of Hercules) has also has composed the score for Iron Sky: The Coming Race (to be released internationally next month) and also has the thriller The Guardian Angel coming up. The film directed by Arto Halonen and starring Rilou Asbaek, Josh Lucas and Rade Serbedzija revolves around a bizarre double murder that shook Copenhagen in the 1950s. The Finnish-Danish-Croatian co-production will be released later this year. Also coming up for the composer is the Chinese fantasy action adventure Legend of the Ancient Sword directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) and starring Leehom Wang, Victoria Song, Godfrey Gao and Karena Ng. The movie based on the video game Gu Jian Qi Tan 2 and follows a young student of “Yanjia,” a lost martial arts form involving both mechanics and magical power, who sets out from his hometown to find Yanjia’s greatest master Da Benzhang is producing the Alibaba Pictures production, which will be released later this year.