Lasse Hallström Hard At Work On Another Nicolas Sparks Tear-Jerker

Wookie Johnson — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:04:11 +0000

Lasse Hallström is getting his hands on some more of that sweet, sweet Nicolas Sparks box office. The Dear John director has been hired by Relativity to helm Safe Haven. But don’t worry. The story isn’t just sadness, mumbling, crying, and making out. There’s also a supernatural element. The story “follows a young North Carolina woman who is determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships. As she begins to fall in love, she struggles with a dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her.”

Herpes.

Just kidding.

Maybe. (Deadline)

Hallstrom Signs Up For Swedish Detectives, But No Dragon Tattoos

Penn Collins — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 21:12:06 +0000

Not content with just one series of novels that captured the world’s attention, Sweden has decided to let loose another best-selling series of books on the heels of the late Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy. The author behind the new guard is Lars Kepler, whose books are second only to Larsson’s in Swedish sales. Translated versions will be hitting US shelves this summer, but waiting to gaug the American reception of these films would take WAY too much patience, so Lasse Hallstrom has already jumped on board to direct the first book of the series, The Hypnotist.

This project is being fastracked because, honestly, isn’t everything these days? It’s expected to start filming at the end of the year, though no further production or cast details are available, with a release in 2012. All indications from Playlist are that this will be a Swedish film, in Swedish, so it should be a least a few months before David Fincher announces that he pick up the shattered pieces of the original and do it right, the ‘merican way.

Though Hallstrom has made a name for himself with softer fare such as The Cider House Rules and Chocolat, it would appear that this project has a bit more edge to it. A detective investigates the slaying of a family that left a boy alive with over a hundred stab wounds. The boy seems unable to help, so the detective uses hypnotism to elicit memories from him. The hypnotism spawns a horrible chain of events in the detectives pursuit. Sounds a little crazy, but the further away from Chocolat we can get, the better.

Screen Junkies » lasse hallstrom

Lasse Hallström Hard At Work On Another Nicolas Sparks Tear-Jerker

Hallstrom Signs Up For Swedish Detectives, But No Dragon Tattoos