Kevin Spacey’s first film as a director for over 20 years was written and starred by a man wanted by a man allegedly allegedly part of the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.
“The Portal of Force” was announced by Variety in May and is part of a comeback by Spacey after falling from bounty in Hollywood following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct – is a supernatural action thriller filmed in Mexico last year, with two Oscar winners shot and killed alongside Idolf Landgren, Tilly’s Gibson and Eric Roberts. It is set to be the first of three chapters of what is called “Holiguards Saga.”
“The Portal of Force” also includes Vladimir “Rad” Okotnikov, a Russian citizen who was indicted in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud in 2023. Deniing the accusation, Okotnikov helped co-write the feature based on his own ideas and on the film’s lead role. He is also listed as one of the producers through his production company Lado Film. According to his IMDB profile, “Portal of Force” marks his script debut and co-written the film with Sergey Torchilin.
Okhotnikov is one of Forsage’s four founders and was one of the cryptocurrency investment platforms that the Justice Department claimed was “an investment scheme of Ponzi and Pyramid that won around $340 million from victim investors around the world.” The DOJ said if convicted, Okotnikov, along with his co-defendants Olena Oblamska, Mikhail Sergev and Sergei Masrakov, would face “the biggest penalty in a 20-year prison.”
Before the indictment, an SEC lawsuit was launched in 2022 against Okhotnikov and his co-founder of Forsage. Later that year, Okotnikov filed a motion to dismiss the civil suit. In his declaration, he argued that Forsage had no office or bank account in the United States and “is not an entity created under the laws of any state in the United States.”
In a YouTube video posted in August 2022, he denied the SEC accusations, claiming that there were “no casualties,” and that participants “have fallen into a financial pyramid situation.” Despite appearing in numerous promotional videos published by US citizens on US platforms promoting counterfeiting schemes, Okotnikov claimed he “never touched on US jurisdiction.” He argued that forsage was not a scam because “real fraud can never win people’s hearts.”
The SEC has pending the outcome of the criminal case, but no court dates have been set, but Okhotnikov is outside of the US jurisdiction and has not been arrested.
In an email to Variety, Okotnikov once again argued that the charges against him were “basically unfounded,” and that “no evidence was presented” against him, and that “the court’s ruling has not been issued.” He added, “The mere publication of the indictment, created by the SEC and DOJ, was reported in the headlines as if guilt had already been established.”
Okhotnikov said there was “no further action” by US authorities for almost three years. “The only development is the publication of the indictment itself, spreading to hundreds of outlets, and often with misleading headlines,” he added, claiming it caused him to “beyond the harm.”
With a budget of around $10 million, the “armed portal” is set against the backdrop of a world of a nearby world where two ancient warrior factions have been fractured by hidden supernatural forces that engage in secret warfare to rule the fate of humanity.
According to the founder of Beachne MLM, a website reporting financial fraud, the film’s plot is “very similar” to the short film Okhotnikov uploaded to his Forsage YouTube channel. These videos have reportedly been recently deleted.
Ellegdy Media Group, the leading producer and leading financial operator of “The Portal of Force”, said that Okhotnikov did not invest in “Force of Force”, and the producer credit was given to producer credit for making his studio and post-production facilities in Dubai where he lives. Variety also reached out to Spacey for comment.
The trailer for “The Portal of Force” was on display in a closed room in Cannes, but a special presentation will be given at a gala dinner in Venice. The film is the latest Lang of a comeback since it was found out he has not committed multiple allegations of sexual misconduct at a famous court trial in 2023, marking Spacey’s first film as a director since 2004’s “Beyond the Sea,” starring alongside Kate Bosworth, John Goodman and Bob Hoskins.
