Zodiak sells Wallander back into Scandinavia

The English-language version of Wallander has been sold back to broadcasters across Scandinavia and into the US.

Distributor Zodiak International has sealed deals with free-to-air broadcasters in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, which have all picked up the three upcoming 1x90mins TV movies. The shows will air first on the BBC later this year.

In Sweden TV4 has bought the three English Wallander films. In Denmark Danmarks Radio has taken it and in Norway TV2 has picked it up.

In the US, WGBH has prebought the show.

The UK version of the popular detective series, based on the Henning Mankell books, has just gone into production. It is being produced by Zodiak-owned Yellow Bird and Andy Harries’ UK indie Left Bank Pictures – for BBC Scotland. English actor Kenneth Brannagh is playing the opera-loving Wallander.

BBC Worldwide and Zodiak International are sharing international rights. Zodiak is handling sales in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, Germany and Scandinavia. BBCWW, which owns 25% of Left Bank, is distributing in all other territories.

Yellow Bird produced the original Swedish-language versions of Wallander. It has made thirteen TV movies in Swedish, which are hugely popular throughout Scandinavia and the Benelux.