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“Wallander,” the globally-acclaimed Swedish detective drama, is back. Banijay Entertainment has unveiled plans for a modernized and reimagined reboot of “Wallander” with Gustaf Skarsgård playing the iconic role.

Hailing from Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, TV4 and Banijay Rights, the first season of this new Swedish-language adaptation will comprise three 90-minute films. They will be directed by Molly Hartleb, as well as Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, the duo behind the highly-anticipated “Egghead Republic.”

The new series will see Kurt Wallander, now 42, who’s recently separated after two decades of marriage and estranged from his daughter. On the edge as his life seemingly unravels, Wallander drinks too much, sleeps too little, and carries the weight of every unsolved case.

Elin Kvist, CEO Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, said today’s “Wallander” “is not just a strong and intuitive detective, but also a complex, vulnerable character struggling as a father, partner and friend.”

Kvist added...

Netflix has dropped the trailer for La Palma, a four-part Norwegian disaster miniseries created by the team behind the popular films The Wave, The Quake, and The Burning Sea. The series, which premieres on December 12, sets a new standard for visual effects in Norway with its breathtaking and intense scenes.

La Palma stars Anders Baasmo, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, and Thorbjørn Harr. Directed by Kasper Barfoed, the series is written by Harald Rosenløw Eeg and Lars Gudmestad.

Harald Rosenløw Eeg & Lars Gudmestad, writers:

It’s been exciting for us to use the disaster genre in a TV series format where we can get even closer to the characters while telling the story on a massive scale. The series shows ordinary people’s limits being tested in the event of a disaster and how they push themself to overcome fears.

La Palma also pushes the boundaries of what...

Netflix has released the trailer for the four-part Norwegian disaster miniseries La Palma, created by the team behind the hit movies The Wave, The Quake, and The Burning Sea. The series premieres on December 12 and raises the bar for visual effects in Norway with stunning and thrilling scenes.

La Palma stars Anders Baasmo, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, and Thorbjørn Harr. It is directed by Kasper Barfoed.

Harald Rosenløw Eeg & Lars Gudmestad, writers:

It’s been exciting for us to use the disaster genre in a TV series format where we can get even closer to the characters while telling the story on a massive scale. The series shows ordinary people’s limits being tested in the event of a disaster and how they push themself to overcome fears.

La Palma also pushes the boundaries of what’s possible to achieve with visual effects in a Norwegian TV series.

Netflix has unveiled the official trailer for the four-part Norwegian disaster miniseries La Palma, which comes from the creators of The Wave, The Quake, and The Burning Sea. Netflix says that the series, which premieres on December 12, sets a new standard in visual effects in Norway.

La Palma stars Anders Baasmo, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, and Thorbjørn Harr. The series was directed by Kasper Barfoed.

The drama series follows Norwegian tourists caught in a massive volcanic eruption on the picturesque Canary Islands. Facing toxic ash, lava, and chaos, they must fight for survival as they race to safety.

“It’s been exciting for us to use the disaster genre in a TV series format where we can get even closer to the characters while telling the story on a massive scale. The series shows ordinary people’s limits being tested in the event of a disaster and...

Exclusive: Leonard Cohen drama So Long, Marianne will play in a raft of new territories after Cineflix cut new distribution deals for the buzzy project, which played in competition at Series Mania.

The series tells the love story of Canadian singer and poet Leonard Cohen, and an extraordinary Norwegian woman, Marianne Ihlen who inspired the titular song. Alex Wolff (A Quiet Place: Day One) plays Cohen and Thea Sofie Loch Næss (The Last Kingdom) Marianne.

The majority of the project was filmed on the Greek island of Hydra where the pair lived in the 1960s. There, they joined legendary Australian novelists Charmian Clift (Anna Torv) and her husband George Johnston (Noah Taylor), and a bohemian group of writers, artists, poets. They were exploring a world of free love and artistic freedom, but also experiencing the rivalries that accompanied their interwoven lives.

Following premieres in Norway on Nrk, Canada on Crave,...

“’I sacrificed my love on the altars of fame,’ Leonard Cohen said in the ‘70s,” “So Long, Marianne” showrunner Øystein Karlsen notes. Cohen was referring of course to his ‘60s decade-long relationship with Norway’s Marianne Ilhen, which shaped him for life.

One of the highest-profile and most anticipated world premieres in Series Mania main competition, “So Long, Marianne” is a coming of age love story which, in a quietly innovative, genre-breaking turn, asks whether the place in the world chosen by one character, Leonard Cohen, was always for his good.

Sold by Cineflix Rights as an eight-part series, “So Long, Marianne” begins in 1959 focusing on Norway’s Marianne Ilhen and Cohen’s love idyll on Hydra, a Greek island, which Ilhen reaches as the partner of budding Norwegian novelist Axel Jensen, and Cohen looking to find a place where, he says in Episode 1, he “can take responsibility for my own identity.

Cineflix’s Rights’ Leonard Cohen series starring Alex Wolff as the iconic singer-songwriter has revealed presales in the U.K., Greece and Cyprus, with Ard’s Fabfiction in Germany joining as a co-producer.

Titled “So Long, Marianne,” the drama has sold to Itvx in the U.K., Cosmote TV and Star Channel in Greece and Movies Best HD in Cyprus. Ard’s Fabfiction has joined original co-producers Nrk in Norway and Bell Media’s Crave in Canada.

According to its official description, the series “tells the legendary love story of Canadian singer and poet Leonard Cohen, and his muse Marianne Ihlen who inspired the titular song. It’s an intimate tale of two lonely people falling in love during a period of their life when they are trying to figure out who they are and their place in the world, while one is becoming one of the most famous singers of all time.

Popular Swedish actor Peter Stormare is set to direct, produce and star in “American Runestone,” a documentary series shedding light on the role played by Viking explorers in Europe’s discovery of North America.

The series’ first two seasons have been commissioned by the Viaplay streaming service run by Scandinavia’s Nent Group. The starting point of the series is 1898, when Swedish immigrant Olof Ohman claimed to have found a runestone in Minnesota left by Viking explorers more than two centuries before Christopher Columbus arrived in North America.

“American Runestone” (working title) follows Stormare on a personal and often humorous journey through Minnesota to uncover the truth about the founding of America through meetings with scholars, skeptics and sensationalists.

Stormare told Variety that “American Runestone” was a passion project. “The idea is not to rewrite history but to clarify it,” he said, adding that the documentary would also explore the...

Peter Stormare and Johan Glans to play Swedish detectives in Los Angeles.

Nordic digital platform Viaplay is plotting its first original series, titled Swedish Dicks.

Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski, Fargo, The Blacklist) will star alongside popular Swedish comedian Johan Glans, who has twice been named as Sweden’s funniest comedian.

The series is about two Swedes working as unlicensed private investigators in downtown Los Angeles.

Peter Settman serves as showrunner through his new production company Brain Academy, which will co-produce, alongside Los Angeles-based Viking Brothers Entertainment and Glenn Lund.

Settman said: “We are thrilled to deliver the first Viaplay original series, starring the largest names from Sweden’s acting and humor elite. Swedish Dicks is nothing you have ever seen before, the perfect mixture of laugh-out-loud moments and dialogues with a more serious undertone.”

The series will start showing throughout the Nordics, exclusively on Viaplay, in 2016.

Viaplay is part of the Modern Times Group.

Brain Academy...

Swede deal: Universal Cable Productions (Ucp) and “Walking Dead” Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd are teaming up to develop Swedish television series “Brothers in Crime” as part of Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment pod deal with Ucp. Nick Cassavetes (“The Notebook”) will direct and executive produce. Cliff Dorfman (“Entourage”) will pen and executive produce the crime drama for U.S. audiences. Peter Stormare and Glenn Lund are attached to co-executive produce under Viking Brothers Entertainment. Also Read: ‘Better Call Saul’ Debuts to Cable Record 4.4 Million Key Demo Viewers “’Brothers In Crime’ is a heart-wrenching, rugged crime series that questions moral values and tests the lines people.

The Palm Springs ShortFest has announced that highly-acclaimed writer/director Gus Van Sant will be presented with the ShortFest Spirit of Short Film Award as part of a special Directing Master Class presentation celebrating his work in film. A selection of his short films will be shown on Saturday, June 23rd at 2:30 p.m. with a discussion headed by Festival Director Darryl Macdonald. Van Sant, who earned Oscar nominations for "Good Will Hunting" and "Milk," was previously honored at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2009 when he received the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.

I personally salute the Palm Springs ShortFest. It is such a grassroots effort that honor the diversity and talent of many striving filmmakers. And most of the films shown move on to win Oscars such as "Freeheld" which won Best Documentary Short in 2008.

The Palm Springs ShortFest happens on June 19th to the 25th. For more details,...