News

Chrissy Metz has joined the cast of Apple TV+’s upcoming crime drama based on Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna books, Variety has learned.

Metz is the latest addition to the series, joining previously announced cast members Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, Stephen Graham, Bill Camp, and Rory Culkin. The show was officially picked up in May for 10 episodes. Production will begin this summer in Pittsburgh.

The official series description states:

“The project tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves to a small town in Western Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But, as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter (Graham), Jonah must protect all that he holds dear. When the desperate search for Jurek’s last missing victim forces Jonah to send his adopted daughter FBI...

Apple TV+'s untitled adaptation of Lars Kepler's Joona Linna novels continues to expand its cast, as horror star Rory Culkin joins Liev Schrieber in the streamer's upcoming answer to the Reacher series. Younger sibling to Macaulay Culkin and Kieran Culkin, the actor received widespread attention in 2011 for his portrayal of Charlie Walker, a Woodsboro teen who would become one of the few to don the mask of the Ghostface Killer in Scream 4. Culkin also starred in Black Mirror, The Twilight Zone, Castle Rock, and Signs.

As reported by Deadline, Culkin has joined the cast of Apple TV+'s upcoming, untitled adaptation of the Joona Linna novel series. The report states that the actor is set to portray Karl, an idealistic but nervous employee at a high-security psychiatric institute who has good intentions, despite finding himself caring for some of the most dangerous inmates. Culkin will join series regular Schreiber,...

Bill Camp is the latest addition to the cast of Apple TV+’s upcoming series based on Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna books.

Camp joins previously announced cast members Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, and Stephen Graham in the drama project, which was first reported to be in development in 2023 and officially picked up in May for 10 episodes. Production will begin this summer in Pittsburgh.

The official description of the untitled series states:

“The project tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves to a small town in Western Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But, as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter (Graham), Jonah must protect all that he holds dear. When the desperate search for Jurek’s last missing victim forces Jonah to send his adopted...

Stephen Graham isn’t done dealing with murder. The creator and star of the hit Netflix series Adolescence will be returning to the small screen in a drama about a serial killer with Liev Schreiber and Zazie Beetz, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show is yet to be titled, but it is said to be based on a series of best-selling crime novels by Lars Kepler. Kepler’s novels include titles like The Spider, The Mirror Man, Lazarus, The Rabbit Hunter, Stalker, The Sandman, The Fire Witness, The Nightmare and The Hypnotist.

Lars Kepler is the pen name of the married couple Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril, and the series will reportedly be based on the Joona Linna series. However, it will be switching the Swedish location to the U.S. The description for the series reads, “Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia,...

Lars Kepler’s first book, ‘The Hypnotist,” of the Killer Instinct book series

Lars Kepler’s bestselling Killer Instinct book series is being adapted into an Apple TV+ series, with Liev Schreiber (The Perfect Couple), Zazie Beetz (Atlanta), and Stephen Graham (Adolescence) attached to star. Emmy nominees Schreiber and Beetz will also serve as executive producers, and BAFTA Award winner Rowan Joffe (Tin Star) and John Hlavin (Shooter) will serve as writers, co-showrunners, and executive producers.

The Killer Instinct novels centering around Detective Joona Linna are set in Sweden, but the series will move the action to the U.S. Filming is expected to begin on the 10-episode season in Pittsburgh this summer, with the lead character’s name switched from Joona Linna to Jonah Lynn.

“The project tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves...

Apple TV+ has ordered a series based on Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna novels with Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, and Stephen Graham attached to star. The untitled series has been given a 10-episode order. Production will begin this summer in Pittsburgh.

The official description of the series states:

“The project tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves to a small town in Western Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But, as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter (Graham), Jonah must protect all that he holds dear. When the desperate search for Jurek’s last missing victim forces Jonah to send his adopted daughter FBI Agent Saga Bauer (Beetz) up against Jurek, how far will Jonah go?”

The project was first reported to be in development in...

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In 1843, a Scottish surgeon named James Braid published a book with the fun-to-say title of "Neurypnology," which is often cited as the earliest known instance of modern-day hypnosis used for medical purposes. The practice and terminology of hypnosis began to spread through the psychology community through the rest of the 19th century and into the 20th, and it was used openly during wartime as a valuable psychological tool for combatting Ptsd. By the 1950s, hypnosis was has found mainstream approval around the world. 

Of course, the mainstreaming of hypnosis caused some people to freak out a little. The thought that a hypnotist could put you to sleep and implant mental suggestions they could control, effectively making you their slave, frightened some people who didn't fully understand its medical applications. It didn't help that hypnosis had also proliferated as a popular form of stage entertainment,...

Europe has rolled out the red carpet for American buyers. Thanks to European Film Promotion’s Europe! On Demand initiative, co-organized with Copenhagen documentary festival Cph:dox, U.S. distributors and other buyers are being offered access to seven European documentaries playing at the festival and available for North America.

On March 12, a dozen U.S. buyers from top outfits including Neon, Mubi, Netflix, Sony Pictures Classics and Kino Lorber were invited to an online pitching session with the films’ respective artistic, production and sales teams. The U.S.-European bridging event will continue on-site with an in-person networking event during the festival’s industry sidebar, Cph:forum (March 24-27).

Five of the documentaries are world premiering in the festival’s most prestigious Dox:award section. Handled internationally by Universal Pictures Content Group, “Á demain sur la lune” (“See You Tomorrow on the Moon”) is directed by the multi-awarded Thomas Balmès. Under the Rise & Shine banner,...

As Cph:dox gears up for its 2025 edition, organizers have unveiled an audacious program of more than 200 films with a sharp focus on human rights under the theme “Right Here, Right Now.”

With 94 world premieres – 68 of them feature-length, the highest number in the festival’s history – Cph:dox continues to expand its global footprint.

For the third consecutive year, all main competition titles are world premieres. While this is not a formal selection criterion, artistic director Niklas Engstrøm tells Variety, “The fact that top directors chose to premiere their films with us speaks volumes about how the festival has grown.” He adds that shifting the festival from November to March in 2017 strengthened its global standing, positioning it as the go-to European launchpad for U.S. filmmakers after Sundance.

Niklas Engstrom

Hot Sundance titles heading to Cph:Dox include “Mr Nobody against Putin,” “The Dating Game” and “Zodiac Killer Project.”

Among the world...

A few years before directing Dracula and Freaks, Tod Browning made a silent horror film titled London After Midnight. Starring Lon Chaney as “The Hypnotist,” the 65-minute film was distributed by MGM in December of 1927; though audiences saw it upon release, it’s likely that everyone who did is no longer with us. Sadly, the last known copy was destroyed in the infamous MGM vault fire of 1967, which tragically resulted in the loss of many classic films.

We may never lay eyes on Tod Browning’s London After Midnight, but those who’ve been salivating to experience it may be excited to hear that a full-cast audio drama is on the way.

Scripted Audio Drama producers Lance Roger Axt, Jack Bowman and Kenton Hall have meticulously adapted the original screenplay by Waldemar Young and Tod Browning as an immersive Dolby Atmos aural experience, with the recording taking place over two...

“I want you to promise to keep this a secret, from everyone,” says Edward C. Burke, a mysterious professor played by mythic master of the macabre, Lon Chaney Sr. The line is a warning to a mourning daughter in the surviving screenplay for London After Midnight; it’s also part of the eeriest horror movies of the silent era. Unfortunately though, director Tod Browning’s 1927 classic has become one of the most inadvertently well-kept secrets of Hollywood, even as it remains one of the most influential works in horror movie history. If only we could see it.

While the film has been lost to time, the ghastly image of Chaney’s vampire in the film has lingered in the pop culture imagination, influencing everything from the earliest Hollywood Dracula film of 1931, which was originally supposed to star Chaney until his death in 1930, to seemingly this year’s recent Renfield reimagining at the same studio.

By Henry McKeand

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's “Pulse” had an inescapable impact on the Japanese horror scene when it hit theatres in 1997. Countless filmmakers were inspired by its pervasive unease and refusal to settle for simple scares. Along with the release of Hideo Nakata's “Ringu” a year later, it set the standard for the J-Horror renaissance that forever altered the cinematic landscape in the 2000s. But even with the hordes of imitators and worshippers, perhaps no film owes more to “Pulse” than “Saimin” by Masayuki Ochiai. Released later as “The Hypnotist” in the U.S., “Saimin” shares themes of hypnosis and the inherent darkness of human nature with “Pulse”, but it is ultimately a more commercial take on the same material, trading in Kurosawa's ambient dread for gonzo thrills.

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

The film kicks off in bravura fashion, with Ochiai cross-cutting...

You know "Dracula," Tod Browning's landmark Universal horror film, but have you seen the director's first dip into vampiric waters?

It was 1927, years before Bela Lugosi would make horror history as Count Dracula; amid the opening of the Holland Tunnel and the advent of talkies with "The Jazz Singer," Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures released "London After Midnight," also known as "The Hypnotist." The story, written by Browning, presents vampires as the prime suspects in an unsolved murder – a Londoner's death is ruled a suicide, but something's not adding up, and Lon Chaney plays the dual roles of cop and criminal as...

The post Why Lon Chaney's London After Midnight is the Holy Grail of Lost Cinema appeared first on /Film.

Right now, in this galaxy… featuring Lloyd Kaufman, Brad Simpson, Gilbert Hernandez, Grant Moninger and Blaire Bercy.

Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Mondo Keazunt (1955)

The Human Tornado (1976)

Gigot (1962)

The Hustler (1961)

How to Commit Marriage (1969)

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Touch of Evil (1958)

The Last Man On Earth (1963)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The Omega Man (1971)

I Am Legend (2007)

Panic In Year Zero! (1962)

Dogtooth (2009)

The Entity (1983)

Shelf Life (1993)

The Killers (1964)

The Next Voice You Hear… (1950)

Donovan’s Brain (1953)

Talk About A Stranger (1952)

Julius Caesar (1950)

They Saved Hitler’s Brain (1968)

The Exterminating Angel (1962)

The Jerk (1979)

Kings Row (1942)

Santa Fe Trail (1940

Bedtime For Bonzo (1951)

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (19468)

Point Blank (1967)

House of Wax (1953)

Black Shampoo (1976)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Return To Oz (1985)

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)

The Anderson Tapes (1971)

Psycho (1960)

Two Evil Eyes (1990)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three...

Welcome, one and all, to the latest installment of The Film Stage Show! Today, we’re featuring a special episode in which Michael Snydel talked with fellow Chicago film critic and The Film Stage contributor Max O’Connell about their individual and shared experiences at the 2019 Chicago International Film Festival. Over two weeks they took in over 30 films, including Vitalina Varela, The Wild Goose Lake, The Painted Bird, and The Vast of Night, and they discuss the highlights on today’s special Ciff podcast.

Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, or stream below. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Full list of films discussed: Vitalina Varela, Fire Will Come, Isadora’s Children, And Then We Danced, La Llorona, Tremors, Seahorse, Present.Perfect., The Kingmaker, The Cordillera of Dreams, The Hypnotist, The Painted Bird, Deerskin, 6.5 Meters, The Wild Goose Lake,...

Maria Pirkkalainen now heads the Helsinki event, which attracted 400 industry attendees.

The Finnish Film Affair wraps today with its best project award going to Oasis Of Now, the debut feature of Finnish-Iranian director and screenwriter Hamy Ramezan. The story follows a family seeking asylum in Finland, and Shahab Hosseini will lead the cast.

Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka of Aamu Film Company will produce; the company’s credits include Cannes award-winner The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Maki. The best project prize comes with a cash award of €3000 ($3320) to support the film’s international marketing.

“The film has...

Ai Weiwei film is a companion piece to Human Flow.

Copenhagen-based documentary festival Cph:dox (March 20-31) has revealed its line-up of competition titles for 2019.

Notable world premieres include The Rest, the latest feature from Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. His previous feature, refugee crisis doc Human Flow, premiered at Venice in 2017 and won multiple awards.

The Rest is a parallel work to Human Flow, again focusing on the refugee crisis, but this time in line with the voice and experience of an individual refugee. Edited down from 900 hours of footage, the film depicts those living in political limbo in Europe,...

At last week’s L.A. Screenings Incaa, Argentina’s National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts, announced a new $2.6 million annual initiative intended to foster growth in international TV and digital platform co-productions.

According to an Incaa release, the initiative is aimed at luring producers, broadcasters and platforms to work along with Argentine co-producers on projects either totally or partially produced within the country’s borders.

Selected projects will be eligible to receive funding up to 50% of their production spend in Argentina, with a cap of $248,000. To qualify, a project must spend a minimum of $260,000 in Argentina.

The ceiling is quite low for international production rebates, the 50% rebate rate very high. Additionally, any qualifying project must dedicate a minimum of 30% of its total Argentina budget to salaries or social charges which go to technical and artistic crew members who live in the country. As far as conditions go, that...

Ready to be hypnotized? The first trailer for Lasse Hallström's newest Swedish thriller The Hypnotist, starring Mikael Persbrandt and Lena Olin, has debuted online thanks to Twitch. This adaptation of another Swedish crime novel called Hypnotisören is supposed to be the latest hit Scandinavian intense thriller following Dragon Tattoo and Snabba Cash. This trailer doesn't have subtitles yet, but the embed has a shoddy transcribed translation (we'll update). That said, it definitely looks interesting and twisted and weird. If you're a fan of Lasse Hallström or these dark Swedish thrillers, you need to see this trailer anyway. Watch the first Swedish trailer for Lasse Hallström's The Hypnotist, originally from Twitch: After a young woman and her parents are murdered by a killer determined to wipe out the entire family, Detective Inspector Joona Linna (Tobias Zilliacus) works with a psychiatrist to hypnotize the hospitalized son who narrowly escaped death...

In the wake of the success of Swedish author Stieg Larsson's "Millenium" books and subsequent film series, which includes "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," many would have expected that his Scandinavian country would soon become a hotspot for Hollywood to dig deep for gritty crime novels ripe for adaptation. While it may not have happened as soon as many would have thought--though Lasse Hallström is getting ready to get "The Hypnotist" with Mikael Persbrandt moving--it looks as if 20th Century Fox are getting in on the action. Deadline is reporting that "Syriana" and "Traffic" writer Stephen Gaghan will help…...

Shock has received some early teaser art and a full synopsis for The Hypnotist , a Swedish production based on Lars Kepler's novel which is one in a string of novels about fictional Detective Joona Linna. Lasse Hallstrom ( The Cider House Rules ) was attached to the adaptation in February and a winter production start is expected. In the middle of a dark December night, psychiatrist Erik Maria Bark is woken by a telephone call from a hospital in Stockholm. Detective Inspector Joona Linna asks for his immediate help in treating an unconscious patient suffering from acute trauma. He hopes that Erik will be able to communicate with the young boy through hypnosis, enabling the police to question him. They hope to find out who so brutally murdered his parents and younger sister,...

The Hypnotist is a film that is currently in pre-production from Sonet Film and others. This is a psychological thriller, as psychiatrist Erik Bark must help a victim of violence. Then, his own trauma hampers a police investigation involving the victim's murdered family.

The first film poster for The Hypnotist shows a tunnel or an eye, depending on how you look at the graphic. Based on the first promo' sheet and synopsis, this film is one of the more intriguing thrillers in development. 2012 is the expected released date (Europe) , but a North American release could be a little longer.

The synopsis for The Hypnotist is here:

"In the middle of a dark December night, psychiatrist Erik Maria Bark is woken by a telephone call from a hospital in Stockholm. Detective Inspector Joona Linna asks for his immediate help in treating an unconscious patient suffering from acute trauma.

He hopes that...

Best known for films like Susanne Bier’s In A Better World or, more poignantly, Everlasting Moments, actor Mikael Persbrandt has found himself on the tip of tongues around Hollywood.

Now, Bloody Disgusting is reporting that the actor has found a brand new gig to call his own. The outlet is reporting that he’ll star in Lasse Hallstrom’s (My Life As A Dog) upcoming take on the Lars Kepler novel, The Hypnotist. The actor, who will next be seen as Beorn in The Hobbit, will take on the role of Detective Joona Linna, a man who must look into a triple homicide, by having a survivor hypnotized.

The film will shoot this winter following The Hobbit, and could very well be the start of a Girl With The Dragon Tattoo-like franchise. Personally, while I’ve never read the book, I do really like Persbrandt as a thespian, and in this type of film,...

So I have three casting related stories for you and a couple of around the Internet obscurities that are more interesting than they are newsworthy. Let's get to it.

Twitch, the website that first reported Spike Lee would be directing the Oldboy remake, is now reporting Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) is at the top of Mandate's casting wishlist for the film's lead role. Choi Min-Sik played the role in Chan-wook Park's highly-acclaimed South Korean version.

The site also reports both Chan-wook Park's 2003 original film and the Japanese manga it was adapted from will be used as source material for Lee's film.

A comparison to Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Infernal Affairs, written by William Monahan, is said to be a good comparison for how the film will be treated. Just like The Departed we can expect "characters and scenarios from the source material as a...

Hypnosis. Man, we just don't get it. As popular as the notion of someone being able to put you in a trance and search the dark recesses of your mind is, we're as skeptical as can be. Unless of course it's a comedy act and we get to watch a one-legged man hump a chair (the visions are still burned into our psyches).

In any event, word has come today that Hobbit star Mikael Persbrandt has signed on to play Detective Linna in Lasse Hallstrom's big screen adaptation of the Lars Kepler novel The Hypnotist. The film is the first in a planned franchise based on Kepler's Detective Joona Linna series.

In the novel Detective Linna investigates a grisly triple homicide where the only survivor, a young boy, is too traumatized to testify. Linna convinces a famous psychologist, against his better judgment, to hypnotize the boy, setting off a terrifying chain of events.

Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules) is set to direct his first Swedish film in 24 years, taking on the adaptation of best selling crime novel The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler, as previously reported. We learned today that Mikael Persbrandt - starring in Peter Jackson's forthcoming Hobbit - has landed the lead role as Detective Linna who "investigates a grisly triple homicide where the only survivor, a young boy, is too traumatized to testify. Linna convinces a famous psychologist, against his better judgment, to hypnotize the boy, setting off a terrifying chain of events." The film, which Hallstrom will begin shooting this winter, is the first in a planned franchise based on Kepler's Detective Joona Linna series, which are most successful Swedish crime novels worldwide after Stieg Larsson's "Millennium" trilogy.

When Swedish director Lasse Hallström ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" "The Cider House Rules") announced he would be directing the Sweden-set crime thriller “The Hypnotist” this year, we asked, ok, what did this mean for Nicole Kidman's Blossom Films' developing transgendered drama “The Danish Girl”? Well, it apparently means that Hallström has bowed out, as has the loosely-attached co-star Rachel Weisz. “There has been too much back and forth with the film, I don´t think the script is perfect and since Rachel Weisz left the project two weeks ago, there is not a complete cast,” Hallstrom told ScreenDaily today. “This is…...

Rachel Weisz is the latest name tentatively attached to Lasse Hallstrom's sex-change-drama "The Danish Girl" reports The Playlist.

Based on the non-fiction novel by David Ebershoff, Weisz would play Greta Wegener, a portrait painter in 1920s Copenhagen who asked her husband Einar to stand in for an absent female model.

Slipping on a dress, stockings and woman’s shoes began a metamorphosis into Lili. When the photos became wildly popular, Greta encouraged her husband to do more.

The harmless game evolved into something deeper - the landmark 1931 first sex-change operation that shocked the world and threatened their marriage. Greta finally let go when she realized the man she married no longer exists.

While Nicole Kidman has been attached to play Einar/Lili for almost two years, the film has seen numerous other people come and go. Charlize Theron was previously attached to play Greta while Tomas Alfredsson ("Let The Right One In...

Many foreign directors dream of making it in Hollywood, and after breaking out with My Life as a Dog Sweden's Lasse Hallstrom certainly did, directing What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Something to Talk About, The Cider House Rules, Chocolat, An Unfinished Life, Casanova, The Hoax and Dear John. But his last, Hachi, went straight to video in the U.S. and did middling business overseas; the market is unforgiving now for his stock-in-trade, heart-warming dramas. Thus Hallström is returning to make his first feature in Sweden in 24 years. The Hypnotist, based on yet another bestselling Swedish crime novel, will start principal photography this coming winter for release in fall 2012; pseudonymous writer Lars Kepler (actually the duo Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril) plan to continue a series ...

We'll kick things off today with a couple of items on soon-to-be Oscar winner Christian Bale. He appears set to reunite with his The Machinist director Brad Anderson on an adaptation of J.G. Ballard's novel Concrete Island. Here's how Anderson describes the project to Edward Douglas of Shock Till You Drop: "The best way to describe it is it's like an urban Robinson Crusoe story - a guy crashes a car into a highway interchange and is marooned in this weedy lot, injured, and can't escape and he's basically trying to survive in the middle of the big urban Metropolis. It's sort of a crazy, cool Ballard-esque type story, but Christian's on board to do that when we can fit it into his schedule, of course." Anderson is also working on a movie called Jack with Samuel L. Jackson and Liev Schreiber on board, which Anderson describes as the...

Director Lasse Hallström ("An Unfinished Life") will direct "The Hypnotist", based on the Swedish-language crime novel. Prepping to start during the winter of 2011/2012, "The Hypnotist" will be the first of a series of features based on the work of author 'Lars Kepler', a pen name for husband/wife writing team Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril.

Premise of "The Hypnotist" follows the criminal investigation of a family by 'Detective Inspector Joona Linna'.

Click the images to enlarge...

We've had a few years where one of the biggest questions in development news was 'what can be the new Twilight?' Will the new question be 'what's the new Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?' With David Fincher hard at work on the first English-language adaptation of Stieg Larsson's best-selling novel, you can bet that will be one of the most-asked questions in studio exec offices in 2011 on both sides of the Atlantic. One film that might seem like an option but probably won't be is The Hypnotist, the first in a series of novels by Lars Kepler. Lasse Hallström will direct. THR [1] says the film will shoot in Sweden later this winter. The books won't be published here in the States until June. So this film version will be shot and finished just in time for the rights to be snapped up for an English-language remake. The...

After the success of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc.), one can hardly blame booksellers or filmmakers for running back to Sweden. The land of beautiful people, hot accents (Skarsgård!), pancakes and meatballs also seems to be a hotbed of thrillers (Three Seconds) just itching to be translated to film.

Lasse Hallström (Chocolat, The Cider House Rules, The Shipping News, My Life as a Dog) will be taking on the Lars Kepler best-selling thriller, The Hypnotist. The book follows Detective Joona Linna investigating a triple homicide. After witnessing the murder of his family, the only survivor -- a young boy -- is so traumatized he cannot recount what happened. A renowned and retired psychologist is convinced to help; he agrees to hypnotize the boy to search his subconscious for clues. The story is said to be filled with unexpected twists and turns and the...

Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom will soon adapt one of the Lars Kepler‘s best selling crime novels titled The Hypnotist.

But as you already guess, the film will be the first in a trilogy that will follow Detective Joona Linna in his homicide investigations.

By the way, Kepler books are the most successful Swedish crime works around the world following Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy.

So let’s start with The Hypnotist book synopsis:

“A triple homicide, all the victims from the same family, captivates Detective Inspector Joona Linna, who demands to investigate the grisly murders-against the wishes of the national police. The killer is at large, and it appears that the elder sister of the family escaped the carnage; it seems only a matter of time until she, too, is murdered.

But where can Linna begin? The only surviving witness is an intended victim-the boy whose mother, father, and...

Director Lasse Hallström will direct The Hypnotist, based on one of the successful Swedish crime novel. The film, which is due to start shooting during the winter of 2011/2012, marks Hallström's first feature in his native Sweden in almost 25 years. According to Variety, this will be the first of a planned series of films which are based on the work of Lars Kepler - the pen name for Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril, a husband and wife writing team. The Hypnotist will focus on a case of the murder of a family being investigated by Detective Inspector Joona Linna. Look for Swedish release some time in the fall of 2012. The title of The Hypnotist refers to a hypnotist used in an effort to speed up the investigation..

Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallstr&#246m (The Cider House Rules) has signed on to direct a Swedish adaptation of best selling crime novel The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

This is the first Swedish film in 24 years that Lasse Hallstr&#246m will direct, and is the first in a planned franchise based on Lars Kepler's Detective Joona Linna series, which are most successful Swedish crime novels worldwide after Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy.

In the novel, Detective Linna investigates a grisly triple homicide where the only survivor, a young boy, is too traumatized to testify. Linna convinces a famous psychologist, against his better judgment, to hypnotize the boy, setting off a terrifying chain of events.

Lasse Hallstr&#246m will begin shooting this winter for a planned 2012 release in Sweden.

Lasse Hallström will return to the Swedish cinema after more than two decades to direct The Hypnotist, an adaptation of the best selling crime novel by Lars Kepler. The Hypnotist is the first in a series of novels revolving around Detective Joona Linna, which rank just below Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy (i.e The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels) on the list of Sweden's most successful crime novels worldwide. Svensk Filmindustri and Sonet Film hope The Hypnotist will launch a film franchise of similiar stature. According to THR, The Hypnotist will shoot this winter for a planned 2012 release. Hallström recently wrapped production an adaptation Salmon Fishing in Yemen which stars Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor, and Kristin Scott Thomas. Hit the jump for the official synopsis of Kepler's The Hypnotist. Tumba, Sweden. A triple homicide, all the victims from the same family, captivates Detective Inspector Joona Linna,...

If it didn't look so cold, I'd like to visit Sweden. It's a place to thank for some really good movies lately, such as Let the Right One In and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. To say it's having an unexpected impact on film is an understatement, and director Lasse Hallstrom is heading back to his homeland to make his latest film, The Hypnotist.

Hallstrom is responsible for such films as What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Chocolat, and The Cider House Rules. The Hypnotist is an adaptation of the novel by Lars Kepler, which is also the second most popular Swedish books worldwide (the Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson is the first).

Though he hails from Sweden, director Lasse Hallström hasn't directed a film in his native tongue in 24 years. His dedication to filmmaking in the United States has resulted in such fine cinema as Chocolat, The Cider House Rules, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and more. Now THR reports the filmmaker is returning to his roots to adapt Lars Kepler's crime novel The Hypnotist. Following Detective Joona Linna, it's just one story in a series of novels that stand directly behind Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy (which is currently getting an American adaptation via Rooney Mara & Fincher) as the most successful crime novels in Sweden. The story follows Detective Linna as he investigates a grisly triple homicide where the only survivor, a young boy, is too traumatized to testify. Linna convinces a famous psychologist, against his better judgment, to hypnotize the boy, setting off a terrifying ...

When it comes to hypnosis, we're as skeptical as anyone could be here at Dread Central HQ. Though it does seem to work for some, and maybe if used correctly we could finally get Foy off of the roof after his viewing of this weekend's The Roommate.

In any event, according to The Hollywood Reporter Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules) will direct his first Swedish film in 24 years, taking on the adaptation of best selling novel The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler.

The film, which Hallstrom will begin shooting this winter, is the first in a planned franchise based on Kepler's Detective Joona Linna series.

In the novel, Detective Linna investigates a grisly triple homicide where the only survivor, a young boy, is too traumatized to testify. Linna convinces a famous psychologist, against his better judgment, to hypnotize the boy, setting off a terrifying chain of events.

Hallstrom...

There doesn't seem to be any explanation out there for it, but the influx of Swedish cinema in recent years is pretty astounding. Names like Tomas Alfredson and Noomi Rapace, as well as titles like Let The Right One In, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Snabba Cash have pushed tons of attention towards the Nordic country. As a result, we really shouldn't be surprised to see some filmmakers returning to their Swedish roots, and that's exactly what Lasse Hallstrom is doing. It has been revealed that the Cider House Rules and Chocolat director will be making his first Swedish film in 24 years with The Hypnotist, according to THR. An adaptation of the best selling book by Lars Kepler, the series is the second most popular Swedish books worldwide, second only to Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy. In the adaptation, a triple homicide has only one witness, a young...

Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules) will direct his first Swedish film in 24 years, taking on the adaptation of best selling crime novel The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler. "In the novel, Detective Linna investigates a grisly triple homicide where the only survivor, a young boy, is too traumatized to testify. Linna convinces a famous psychologist, against his better judgment, to hypnotize the boy, setting off a terrifying chain of events." The film, which Hallstrom will begin shooting this winter, is the first in a planned franchise based on Kepler's Detective Joona Linna series, which are most successful Swedish crime novels worldwide after Stieg Larsson's "Millennium" trilogy.

We've already expounded on the career of diminishing returns from director Lasse Hallström, but perhaps a trip back to his native Sweden for his first film in twenty four years will be the creative rejuvenation he needs. THR reports that Hallström will begin shooting the crime thriller "The Hypnotist" this winter and if all goes well, this will be a franchise starter that the backers hope will part of a new crime sensation following the success of the 'Millenium' trilogy of films with Noomi Rapace. Based on the best-selling novel by Lars Kepler, the film is the first in a…...

Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallstrom ("The Cider House Rules," "Chocolat," "Dear John") is set to direct his first Swedish film in 24 years with an adaptation of the best selling crime novel "The Hypnotist" by Lars Kepler says The Hollywood Reporter.

The film is the first in a planned franchise based on the Detective Joona Linna series, arguably the most successful and/or well-known Swedish crime novel series worldwide outside of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy (ie. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series) and Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander books.

In this novel, Linna investigates a grisly triple homicide where the only survivor, a young boy, is too traumatized to testify. Linna convinces a famous psychologist, against his better judgment, to hypnotize the boy, setting off a terrifying chain of events.

Hallstrom will begin shooting this winter for a planned 2012 release in Sweden. Borje Hansson, Bertil Ohlsson and Peter Possne will produce.

Lasse Hallstrom is doing an adaptation of "The Hypnotist" by author Lars Kepler. The film will be a Swedish production that tells the story of a detective who hires a hypnotist to work with a young boy traumatized by three murders he had witnessed. When the hypnotist puts the whammy on the boy, horrifying things occur. Shooting begins this winter. "The Hypnotist" is just one of a string of novels about fictional Detective Joona Linna. Hallstrom previously directed The Cider House Rules and Dear John .