Lasse Hallstrom to Shoot 'The Hypnotist,' First Swedish Film in 24 Years

COLOGNE, Germany -- Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules) will direct his first Swedish film in 24 years, taking on the adaptation of best selling crime novel The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler.

The film, 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.

Hallstrom will begin shooting this winter for a planned 2012 release in Sweden.

Borje Hansson and Peter Possne, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated As It Is in Heaven and Simple Simon will produce together with Bertil Ohlsson, who last teamed with Hallstrom on Johnny Depp/Leonardo Di Caprio-starrer What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Sweden's Svensk Filmindustri and Sonet Film are on board as co-producers.