'Easy Money II' Tops Swedish Box Office

COLOGNE, Germany - Easy Money II, the sequel to Daniel Espinosa's Stockholm crime thriller, has followed in its predecessor's footsteps, entering the Swedish box office at number one.

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Easy Money II beat out returning entries including The Dark Knight Rises and Total Recall to take the top spot, earning around $1.5 million in its opening weekend.

Directed by Babak Najafi, Easy Money II is loosely based on the Jens Lapidus' crime novel Never Fuck Up, the second in his so-called Stockholm noir trilogy. The sequel also stars Easy Money lead Joel Kinnaman, known to U.S. audiences for his role as Stephen Holder in AMC's The Killing.

Acclaimed arthouse director Jens Jonsson (King of Ping Pong) has signed on to direct Easy Money III, the last film in the trilogy. Currently in production, Easy Money III will debut in Sweden September 2013.

Warner Bros. has picked up remake rights for the first Easy Money and Dark Knight producer Charles Roven is working on the adaptation with Zac Efron attached to star in Kinnaman's role as a young man who looks to make a quick buck by becoming a runner for a coke dealer.

TrustNordisk is handling worldwide sales for all the Easy Money titles. The first film has more or less sold out worldwide  while Easy Money II closed multiple territories following an exclusive buyers screening in Cannes in May.