Bornedal's war drama 1864 defeated Nordisk Film's project Herfra hvor verden går. Miso Film has been working on the project with the director of Nightwatch, for over a year, since it acquired rights for Buk-Swienty's best-selling novel ‘Slagtebænk Dybbøl'. The 1864 battle of Dybbøl where Germans seized a third of Denmark's territory, became a symbol of the Dane's courage and determination to fight the oppressor.
Commenting on the selection of 1864, DR's Head of Culture Morten Hesseldahl said: "We have gone through a thorough development process where we have evaluated several projects. We have chosen 1864 because Bornedal has submitted a great proposal combining Tom Buk-Swienty's brilliant book with a story mixing past and present. The 1864 series spans over different periods, from the Three Years' War of 1848-1851 until 1864, and these periods have had a tremendous significance for the history of Denmark. 1864 is not only about the fatal war but also about the Danish nation's self-understanding."
Written and directed by Bornedal, the 1864 project will be produced by Miso Film in collaboration with DR, with a total budget valued at DKK 150 million. "We can now start working on the second development stage, and parallel to the scriptwriting process, we're planning to submit 1864 to several European TV stations and funding partners to raise the rest of the financing for the series," said Miso Film co-founder and producer Peter Bose. Filming is scheduled to start in late summer 2012.