Danish director Lars von Trier, who last year disclosed that he was writing The House That Jack Built, an eight-part English-language television series about a serial killer, as seen from the murderer’s point of view (read the news), has now decided that it will become a feature. Zentropa Entertainments producer Louise Vesth introduced the film at the Cannes Film Festival, and Danish international sales agency TrustNordisk has started pre-selling it, initially signing for Benelux (September), Poland (Gutek), Taiwan (Moviecloud), the former Yugoslavia (Cinemania), the Czech Republic (Aero), Romania (Independenta Film 97) and Latin America (California Filmes).

At Cannes, Vesth said that the €10.1 million film is about a serial killer named Jack, whom it follows over a period of ten years, as he takes more and more chances in his quest to make the perfect piece of art out of the murders. “Von Trier wants the film to take place in the state of Washington, and as he did with Dancer in the Dark, he expects to find a location in Gothenburg for it,” she said.

Currently casting a mixture of American and European actors, The House That Jack Built – “a very beautiful film, but with a shattering story”, according to Vesth – will start shooting with a Swedish co-producer, regional film centre Film Väst in Trollhättan, in August, and will continue in Copenhagen in 2017. This will also allow von Trier to make changes to the script.

TrustNordisk has also signed a couple of contracts for Danish director Ole Bornedal’s Small Town Killers [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], a black comedy that Nordisk Film will release in Denmark on 25 December. Produced by Jonas Allen and Peter Bose for Miso Film, in co-production with 4Fiction and Nordisk Film, it follows two artisans who are fed up with their lifeless marriages and hire a Russian assassin to do away with their wives. Starring Danish actors Ulrich Thomsen, Nicolas Bro, Lene Maria Christensen and Mia Lyhne, the movie has been licensed for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DCM), Poland (M2 Films), the former Yugoslavia (Cinemania Group), and Hong Kong (Edko), with several territories currently in negotiations.

Danish director Mads Matthiesen’s second feature, The Model [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], starring newcomer Maria Palm as an emerging Danish model struggling to gain a foothold on the Parisian scene, was a bestseller for TrustNordisk at the European Film Market at Berlin. At Cannes, the agency licensed the US rights to Hollywood’s Brainstorm Media, following sales to Latin America (California Films), China (HGC Entertainment), Russia CIS (Voxell Media), Hungary (Vertigo Media), Turkey (Ozen Film), Estonia (Estin Film), Lithuania (Incognito Film) the former Yugoslavia (2i Film), France (AB Groupe), Poland (Kino Swiat), Korea (Scene & Sound), Bulgaria (Pro Films) and the Middle East (Gulf Film).