Maria Karlsson will bring to the screens the epic drama about the dark chapter of Scandinavia’s history, to be produced by SF Studios.

The story centres around Kristina Gyllenstierna, a fearless Swedish noblewoman who defended Stockholm when Denmark invaded the city in 1520. She was at the heart of the Swedish resistance when King Christian II of Denmark ordered the mass killing of Swedish noblemen during the Stockholm Bloodbath (November 08-09, 1520).

Karlsson’s writing credits include the Easy Money film trilogy and episodes of the TV dramas The Lawyer and Blinded. She developed the script for The Stockholm Bloodbath with backing from the Swedish Film Institute’s development support scheme to big budget projects from female writers.

“It surprises me that no one has made a film before about this spectacular, unique and completely horrifying event, one of perhaps the most important events in Nordic history,” noted Karlsson. “It is "the real red wedding", with Kristina Gyllenstierna - a 28-year-old pregnant mother of five, in the lead role. I am so much looking forward to taking this script to the big screen with SF Studios ", she said.

“This is a gigantic project that will take years of hard work. We are incredibly excited and it is an inspiring process we have started,” added Annika Sucksdorff, Head of Film Production Sweden at SF Studios.

The mega-project is set to go into production in 2023, with SF Studios handling Nordic distribution.

The Stockholm Bloodbath will be the next Nordic blockbuster for Bonnier-owned SF Studios after Erik Poppe’s The Emigrants and Charlotte Sieling’s Margrete - Queen of the North, both supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

The two films will be pitched on February 5 as part of Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market (February 4-7).