It was announced today that the original scripted format The Bridge from Scandinavian producers Filmlance International, is to be adapted for the Russian market.

NTV Channel in Russia has commissioned Endemol Shine’s partner company Weit Media to produce twenty episodes to run over two seasons of the hit Scandianvian crime thriller. The Bridge, has to date, been adapted in the US, French and UK markets.

Based on the international hit, Bron/ Broen, the Russian adaptation begins when a body is found on the Narva Frienship Bridge, connecting the borders between Russia and Estonia. Russian investigator Maxim Kazantsev (Michail Porechenkov) and Estonian Detective Inga Savisaar (Ingeborga Dapkunaite) must work together to hunt down a serial killer operating in both countries.

Production will begin on the series in June 2016 for transmission in 2017, with season two being filmed consecutively.

Lars Blomgren, MD Filmlance says; “The Bridge is a truly global format, marrying provocative themes with grounded story-telling and characters. By setting the central concept against the unique cultural and socio-political backdrop of the Russian/ Estonian border, it allows for a new and extraordinary story to unfold. I’m extremely excited at the prospect of working with our colleagues at Weit Media and can’t wait to get started.”

Yulia Sumacheva, CEO of Weit Media says; “The Bridge is an outstanding drama series and we thrilled at this opportunity to produce the Russian-Estonian adaptation with it’s extraordinary cast and are looking forward to working closely with Lars Blomgren.”

Marina Williams COO of International Operations says “The Bridge has huge resonance across a variety of markets and I am delighted that our team in Russia has the opportunity to develop this intelligent, ambitious adaptation. NTV is one of the key broadcasters in the Russian market and their involvement is a real testament to the quality of the project: we look forward to the series going into production and it’s launch later in the year.”

Since it’s debut in 2011 in Sweden and Denmark, Bron/ Broen has built its success  year on year. The third series (aired late 2015) has been the most successful yet, ranking as the highest rated drama of the year in Sweden and Denmark and  has been sold to 157 territories.

In the UK, the third series of The Bridge delievered  BBC4 an average audience of 1.49 million viewers, exceeding it’s primetime slot average by 305%. All ten episodes were the highest rating shows for the channel in 2015.

Bron/Broen III is produced by Filmlance International & Nimbus Film, in co-production with Sveriges Television, DR, ZDF German Television Network, ZDF Enterprises GMBH, Film i Skåne, NRK, Lumiere Group Filmlance & Nimbus co-producers Copenhagen Film Fund, Stiftelsen Ystad-Österlen Filmfond and with support from the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and Nordvision

Created by Filmlance, two series of the original scripted format were adapted locally for the US market, with the debut season of The Bridge winning audiences in excess of 5 million viewers for broadcaster FX making it the No.1 new cable drama of the summer,

Kudos and Shine France Films produced two series of the Anglo-French version, The Tunnel, for Sky Atlantic and Canal +, with The Tunnel: Sabotage due to transmit on Sky Atlantic on April 12^th. The Tunnel was Sky Atlantic’s first original drama commission, achieving market shares eight times higher than the channel average.

Recent and forthcoming non-scripted hits for Weit Media include the first Russian series of blockbuster format Masterchef Junior and a second season of The Biggest Loser for CTC Channel as well as a local version of comedy talent series Your Face Sounds Familiar, which launched in 2013 which just finished a third series on Russia 1.