'Borgen,' 'Mindhunter' Writer Tobias Lindholm to Adapt Kim Wall Murder Investigation as Miniseries

Lindholm will dramatize the so-called "submarine murder" of Swedish journalist Kim Wall, along with the man who solved it, homicide detective Jens Moller.

Acclaimed Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm (A War, A Hijacking) has signed on to write and direct The Investigation, a Scandinavian crime series based on the real-life investigation into the killing of Swedish journalist Kim Wall, the victim of the so-called "submarine murder."

Wall, a freelance journalist, was brutally killed and then dismembered while reporting on entrepreneur Peter Madsen and his midget submarine. After an exhaustive investigation by Jens Moller, the Head of Homicide for the Copenhagen Police, Madsen was eventually convicted of Wall's murder.

Denmark's Miso Film will develop The Investigation as a six-part miniseries and produce it together with Sweden's TV4 & C More and Outline Film in cooperation with TV 2 in Norway. Lindholm and Moller will develop the script working closely with Kim Wall’s parents, Ingrid and Joachim Wall. Production is expected to start next year.

“In the making of a crime series like this that is built on real events and the life of real people, I cannot and will not act alone. The cooperation with Jens Moller, and Ingrid and Joachim Wall are therefore imperative,” said Lindholm. “I don’t want to make a crime series that is beguiled by the perpetrator or the crime. I am, however, interested in the processes and the people who solved the crime, as well as the people who must go on with their lives despite it. It’s therefore a fully conscious decision that the perpetrator at no time will figure in the series.”

The decision not to show the crime from the murderer's perspective echoes that of Norwegian director Erik Poppe, who recreated the July 2011 terrorist attack in Norway for his drama Utoya: July 22 without once showing the face of the terrorist, Anders Breivik.

Lindholm is no stranger to this kind of journalistic reporting for his projects. The writer/director worked closely with professional soldiers and hostage negotiations in the making of his films A War and A Hijacking, and his work is renowned for its strict authenticity and realism. “I wish, in the same manner, to make a crime series that cuts out all the colorful stuff and depicts the reality and the facts soberly and precisely,” Lindholm said.

His television work includes writing for the acclaimed Danish political drama Borgen and penning and directing two episodes of David Fincher's Mindhunter for Netflix.

In a statement, Ingrid and Joachim Wall said they had decided early on that their daughter's fate “should not be forgotten” and that they trusted Moller and Lindholm to tell the story of her murder investigation “from the right perspective and with respect for all who knew and loved Kim.”

Miso parent company Fremantle will handle world sales on The Investigation and will be introducing it to buyers at the MIPCOM market in Cannes next week.