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Lasse Hallström Next Adapting Swedish Crime Novel 'The Hypnotist'

by Ethan Anderton
February 7, 2011

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 chain of events. The project is slated to start shooting this winter with an eye towards a 2012 release in Sweden. If the films are anywhere near as popular as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or the other two installments of the Millennium trilogy, we could end up seeing this film get a theatrical release in the States too. This crime novel series might end up getting its own American adaptation as well. Interested?

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