EXCLUSIVE: REinvent International Sales has inked a North American deal on The Dark Heart, the Swedish true-crime series from The Guilty director Gustav Moller, with streaming service Topic taking U.S. rights and public broadcaster CBC Gem grabbing Canada.
The show, co-created with Oskar Söderlund (Easy Money), premiered at Sundance this year and recently screened at Series Mania, where it won the Best Series award in the International Panorama section.
The five-episode series stars Gustav Lindh (Queen of Hearts), Clara C. Drake (Gåsmamman), Peter Andersson (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy), and Aliette Opheim (Caliphate) in the lead. It is a psychological thriller following how an old family feud clashes with a young, forbidden love story, leading to a deadly tragedy, ultimately solved by a private investigator who obsesses over the case. The story is based on journalist Joakim Palmkvist’s book The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator.
CBC Gem will broadcast the show this summer, with Topic following six months later.
The Dark Heart is produced by Anna Carlsten and Caroline Landerberg / FLX for Discovery+, in co-production with Film i Skåne and collaboration with REinvent International sales.
The deal was negotiated by Topic’s VP of Acquisitions, Jennifer Liang and REinvent’s Senior Sales Manager, Peter Ahlén, while the deal for CBC was negotiated by CBC’s Senior Director of Acquisitions, Jenna Bourdeau, and REinvent’s Senior Sales Manager, Sanne Arlø.
“Topic is excited to be the North American home of the most celebrated exclusive Nordic Noir titles, and we are thrilled to add The Dark Heart into the mix,” said Ryan Chanatry, General Manager of Topic. “Our audience will be immediately drawn into this stranger than fiction true-crime story”.
“We’re proud to share the North American premiere of this beautifully shot, character-driven true crime series with audiences across Canada on CBC Gem,” added Jenna Bourdeau, Senior Director, Acquisitions, CBC. “The Dark Heart is an exciting addition to our selection of acclaimed international series, complementing the original Canadian storytelling available on CBC Gem.”
Sales and Marketing Director of REinvent International Sales, Helene Aurø added, “We are sure that The Dark Heart has found perfect homes in the US and Canada. We are very pleased to be working with CBC and Topic again and bringing this story to North American audiences.”