‘The Bridge’ Creator Hans Rosenfeldt Says He Is “Not Really Watching Crime Shows At The Moment” As He Talks Up His Big-Budget Fantasy Epic ‘Ronja The Robber’s Daughter’

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: The Bridge creator Hans Rosenfeldt has said he is “not really watching crime shows at the moment,” as he talks up his big-budget Viaplay adaptation of fantasy novel Ronja the Robber’s Daughter, the streamer’s “most ambitious project to date.” Rosenfeldt is deep in the edit on Ronja, which is being shopped at this week’s London TV Screenings, and he said adapting the Astrid Lindgren Swedish adventure classic has made a refreshing change from his decades of writing crime. “I am not really watching crime shows at the moment,” said Rosenfeldt, who has penned four seasons of smash Scandi noir hit The Bridge, three of ITV/Netflix’s Marcella and several crime novels. “I have worked in crime for 30 years and whenever I work I’m working on crime so when I watch something or read something I like it to be something else.” When approached by a producer he had worked with on The Bridge last year about a new project, Rosenfeldt’s first reaction was to think, “Oh no, not another crime show,” but he was pleasantly surprised to be offered the opportunity to adapt a book that has sold 165M copies globally and been translated into more than 100 languages – penned by the iconic author of Pippi Longstocking.

The result is Viaplay’s “most ambitious project to date and one of Scandinavia’s most ambitious as a whole,” according to Rosenfeldt and Viaplay Chief Content Officer Filippa Wallestam, which Rosenfeldt said has been “updated for the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings generation.” In Ronja the Robber’s Daughter, the protagonist lives amongst a clan of robbers in a castle in the woodlands and must reckon with being born into a life of crime. “The audience will be able to see the ambition when they watch it,” added