Call Girl, Easy Money II and Department Q sell for TrustNordisk

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

20/05/2012 - Danish international distributor TrustNordisk reported of brisk sales at Cannes, even before le Marché du Film entered its first weekend, spearheaded by Swedish directors Mikael Marcimain’s Call Girl, Babak Najafi’s Easy Money II [trailer] and the Danish Jussi Adler-Olsen quadrilogy about deputy detective superintendent Carl Mørck and his assistant Hafez al Hassad, of Copenhagen’s Department Q.

“The response to the Adler-Olsen thriller series has been amazing,” said head of sales Susan Wendt, of TrustNordisk, who has licensed Danish director Mikkel Nørgaard’s The Keeper of Lost Causes and its three sequels to Germany’s NFP Marketing & Distribution and Switzerland’s Frenetic Films. Produced by Louise Vesth for Zentropa Entertainments/TV2-DK, they are all scripted by Nikolaj Arcel, who recently directed the award-winning A Royal Affair [trailer, film focus].

Bagging several awards for his TV films, Swedish director Mikael Marcimain’s feature debut Call Girl, starring Pernilla August and produced by Mimmi Spång, of Garagefilm, was picked up for France by Pretty Pictures. UK distributor Icon Film Distribution and Germany’s Network Movie (Germany’s ZDF, France’s ARTE) acquired Swedish director Babak Najafi’s thriller Easy Money II [trailer], following up on the 2010 success with 620,000 domestic admissions.

Screening as a work-in-progress to buyers only, the Fredrik Wikström production for Tre Vänner has also sold to Frenetic Films (Switzerland), Maywin Media (Russia, the Balkans), Film Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia), Sonamu Pictures (Korea) and Lumière (Benelux). Swedish director Jens Jonsson will conclude the trilogy, which is based on lawyer-turned-author Jens Lapidus’ Stockholm Noir novels.