Variety
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Elsa Keslassy @elsakeslassy
MARRAKECH, Morocco– Lisa Langseth’ critically-aclaimed “Hotell” has been snatched up by HBO Latin America.
An uplifting drama, the Alicia Wikander starrer is repped by Paris-based MK2 and is produced by B-Reel, one of Scandinavia’s leading indie shingle. Wikander toplines as a young and thriving interior designer who falls into depression after delivering a severly-ill child. As her perfect life falls apart, the young woman starts attending an unconventional group therapy.
The micro-budgeted “Hotell” world-preemed at Toronto and competed at Marrakech Film Festival where it was also part of the spotlight on Scandinavian cinema. MK2 is currently in negotiations to close the U.K. and the U.S., among other territories. Previous deals have been signed for France (Diaphana), Benelux (Wild Bunch), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), ex-Yugoslavia (Demiug) and Turkey (Calinos).
Patrik Andersson, head of development and producer at B-Reel, said the shingle is now in early development on Langseth’s follow-up “Euforia,” a psychological drama slated for a 2015 delivery.
“’Euforia’ will be bigger in scope than ‘Hotell’ and will have an international setting,” Andersson told Variety. “B-Reel is a director-driven company and Lisa (who started out her career as a theater director) is definitely one of the most interesting auteurs coming out of Scandinavia now.”
Andersson, who was on hand in Marrakech along with Langseth and B-Reel producer Frida Bargo, added the company will start shopping “Euforia” to international sales companies once the treatment will be completed around March.
B-Reel is also on board to produce Jane Magnusson’s next documentary project, “Bergman” which will shed light onIngmar Bergman’s tormented personal life. The project is being developed a theatrical feature doc and a TV mini-series, as did “Palme,” Kristina Lindstrom’s controversial take on the rise and fall of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme.
The most internationally-driven projects on B-Reel’s slate are Mikael Marcimain’s “Gentlemen & Gangsters” and Pernilla August’s “The Serious Game.”
“The Serious Game,” penned by Lone Scherfig (“An Education”) and based on Hjalmar Soderberg’s 1912 novel. It’s an erotic tale set at the turn of the century in Stockholm and depicts the love story between the daughter of a famed painter and an ambitious young journalist. It will shoot next year in Stockholm and Hungary in two segments.
Meanwhile, “Gentlemen & Gangsters” is a romance-laced thriller based on Klas Ostergren’s best-selling novels that’s being developed as a film and a four-part mini. Pic, set during the post WWII era, centers around the flamboyant and charismatic Morgan brothers. Wild Bunch is handling sales on both the film and mini-skein and will unveil a promo at Berlin.
The movie project, described by Andersson as a “layered bittersweet love story and a sprawling international thriller,” is adapted from the first book, “Gentlemen,” while the TV series is based on both “Gentlemen” and “Gangsters.”
The Swedish release will be handled by Svensk and is skedded for next September. Skein will bow on SVT in Dec. 2015.
A one-stop-shop handling innovative digital projects (such as Drake Doremus’ “The Beauty Inside”) and commercials for such brands as H&M and Volvo, on top of movies, B-Reel is based in Stockholm and has offices in Los Angeles, London, Barcelona, New York and Berlin.
