Scandi major TrustNordisk will handle world sales on The Marco Effect, which is based on Jussi Adler-Olsen’s bestselling crime-thriller novel of the same name.
Danish filmmaker Martin Zandvliet, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated war pic Land Of Mine, is helming the project, which is budgeted at $8.1m (€7.4m) and began shooting this week.
Written by Anders F. August (A Fortunate Man) with co-writer Thomas Porsager, the movie stars Ulrich Thomsen (The New Pope), Zaki Youssef (Sons Of Denmark), and Sofie Torp (Wildland) in the story of a homeless boy who is arrested at the Danish boarder control for possession of a missing public servant’s passport.
A police inspector is tasked with finding the connection, but the case contains several suspicious elements: The public servant was accused of pedophilia shortly before he disappeared, and his case was closed unusually quickly. The silent, traumatized Marco refuses to talk to them, and is soon on the run from those who intend to kill him because of what he knows.
The pic is being produced by Mikael Rieks for Nordisk Film Production A/S in co-production with Peter Nadermann for Nadcon Film GmbH and ZDF with support from the Danish Film Institute, in collaboration with YouSee and TV2 Denmark.
Nordisk Film Distribution is handling distribution in Scandinavia, with local release set for October 1.
“We are very happy to work with director Martin Zandvliet and producer Mikael Rieks again. With a budget of more than €7m, a captivating as well as thrilling script and Jussi Adler-Olsen’s internationally known novel behind, we are convinced that The Marco Effect has the potential to land on the big screen in most corners of the world. Fans of Jussi Adler-Olsen will not be disappointed,” said TrustNordisk MD Susan Wendt.
