Fetih 1453’ goes to US

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Hürriyet photo.

The Turkish film “Fetih 1453: The Conquest of Constantinople,” which tells the story of the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul, was released in the United States, playing in theaters in California and Washington D.C.

After enjoying quite a bit of success in Turkey, Europe and Australia the epic movie was previously released in New York and New Jersey.

The most expensive production to ever come out of the Turkish film industry, the film details a historical view of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II. The movie, which debuted Feb. 16, garnered an estimated record-breaking 12 million Turkish Liras in its first week at the box office.

The film is currently being shown in 850 cinemas around Turkey and has reportedly drawn 2.47 million people.

Directed by Faruk Aksoy, the film has angered Christians in the German city of Cologne, with the Christian association Via Dolorosa boycotting the film. The association said Turks should be ashamed of what they did to Christians in the past rather than celebrating Istanbul’s conquest.