Lasse Hallstrom, best known for his Oscar-baiting Miramax films like THE CIDER HOUSE RULES and CHOCOLAT, is venturing into much darker territory with THE HYPNOTIST, an adaptation of best selling crime novel by Lars Kepler. The film will be Hallstrom’s first Swedish-language film in 24 years.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, THE HYPNOTIST, 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.
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.
Sweden’s Svensk Filmindustri and Sonet Film are on board as co-producers.
Hallstrom’s films usually tend to be sentimental and prudent, so this is intriguing subject matter for the director; maybe the return to his native land has provoked an urge to try something vastly different…
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