The Swedish production house Yellow Bird is going to produce with the BBC and Left Bank Pictures in the UK three single 90-minute films about detective Kurt Wallander with Kenneth Branagh in the lead role.
One Step Behind, Firewall and Sidetracked will all be filmed in Ystad, Sweden over the next spring and summer, with a Swedish and British cast and crew. All the productions will be shot in English.
Simon Moseley, Branagh's producing partner, will produce the films and the TV adaptation will be written by Richard Cottan (Love Again) and Richard McBrien (Trust). Executive Producers for Left Bank Pictures are Andy Harries (The Queen) and Francis Hopkinson (The Jury) and for Yellow Bird, Ole Søndberg (Wallander series) and Anni Faurby.
Branagh - who is also co-producing - has had a long time passion for Henning Mankell's books, and the project came to fruition when he contacted Søndberg, and after he met with Mankell in Sweden. "Wallander is a wonderfully complex and compelling character and, as a long time admirer of Mankell's novels, I am very excited to be playing this fascinatingly flawed but deeply human detective," said the star actor/director.
Specialised in book adaptations, Yellow Bird (owned by Zodiak Television Group) has already produced 13 Wallander films. The Wallander books have sold over 25 million copies worldwide.