04/07/2013 - The award-winning Danish DR television series is optioned for its first European remake by Turkish production company Akbel Adam Film

Danish poliçe detective Sarah Lund is likely to change both her name and her Faroese jumpers, when the award-winning Danish television series The Killing from Danish pubcaster DR appears in a Turkish version: Istanbul-based production company, Akbel Adam Film, has optioned the drama for its first European remake and is currently negotiating with a local TV station to programme Öldürme.

“I expect Turkey to be the first country in Europe with its own version of The Killing, which already exist in the US, but we are also negotiating with India and Russia. In general there is an increasing interest in buying rights for remakes,” said deputy director Helene Aurø, of DR International Sales.

“It confirms the universal and unique aspects of author Søren Sveistrup’s story that it is getting its own life in countries as dissimilar as America and Turkey, and it is interesting how how the cultural differences emerge in dramatic form,” added head of DR Drama Piv Bernth, who has also produced the series. “How will Turkey depict Lund’s complex investigation into the killing of a young girl?”

The three seasons of The Killing have won several international prizes – most recently Sofie Gråbøl (Sarah Lund) receive a Golden Nymph for Outstanding Actress in an International Drama Series at last month’s (June) Monte Carlo TV Festival. She has previously won UK’s BAFTA Award for the role.

The US version of the Danish drama series was originally shelved after two seasons by American TV network AMC, but it has now announced that Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman as detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder will return to solve yet another crime, currently filming in Canada.