Irish screenwriter Ronan Bennett will write the final episodes of the Kenneth Branagh-starring crime series ‘Wallander’, IFTN has learned.
A native of Antrim, Northern Ireland, Bennett is perhaps best known for his penchant for crime fiction as both novelist and screenwriter both. Having scribed 2009’s John Dillinger biopic ‘Public Enemies’, starring Christian Bale and Johnny Depp, Bennett went on to develop acclaimed television projects. His most recent work includes credits on series ‘Hidden’ and ‘Top Boy’, both crime dramas created for the BBC and Channel Four, respectively.
A BBC/Left Bank co-production, ‘Wallander’ is based on the acclaimed novels of Swedish author Henning Mankell and marks the titular character’s first English-language adaptation. With multiple BAFTA’s and myriad prestigious nominations to its name, ‘Wallander’ has proved a regular ratings winner for the BBC, with the third series debuting in July 2012 to more than 6.4m viewers in the UK Alone.
With a first season airing in 2008 and each consecutive series following two years after the last, Bennett’s two-part series finale is set to conclude the tale with a summer 2014 production in mind.
To be based on ‘The Troubled Man’, Mankell’s final novel in the serial, Bennett’s adaptation will see Wallander troubled with memory less and potential spy scandals as he investigates the disappearance of his daughter’s father in law.