Kenneth Branagh, Anthony Hopkins in talks for new Mankell adaptation

Branagh has approached Anthony Hopkins about playing the lead in the drama about an old man, living on a remote Swedish island. He is visited by a woman he once loved. She is dying from cancer and wants him to fullfill a promise he once made.

“I can’t say much more than that we are in talks with Branagh, and that he has approached Hopkins,” Ole Sondborg, executive producer at Yellow Bird, told Screen.”I hope to have more concrete information within the next month.”

Branagh has starred in six succesful TV films, produced by Yellow Bird, based on the Mankell scripted bestsellers about policeman Kurt Wallander. The plan is for Branagh to return to Sweden the forthcoming fall to shoot three more Wallander episodes. The shoot of Italian Shoes will start after those three films are made.