Danish director Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch) is attached to direct an adaptation of best-selling Norwegian novel Dina's Book for Danish producer Per Holst. The $10m English-language project is set to start production in September.

Dina will be Bornedal's first directing project since the 1999 TV movie Deep Water (Dybt Vand). Bornedal achieved international acclaim with Danish thriller Nightatch (Nattevagten) in 1994, a film he also scripted. He went on to direct an English-language version for Dimension Films in 1998 which starred Nick Nolte and Ewan McGregor.

Holst (Pelle The Conqueror) is producing the film with Norway's Northern Lights, and Sweden's Felicia Film. Jonas Cornell is adapting the novel in close collaboration with Bornedal and is due to deliver the script at the end of April.

Dina's Book, written by Norwegian author Herbjorg Wassmos, was a major success in Scandinavia and also sold 50,000 copies in Germany and 30,000 in the UK. Dina's producers are in talks with potential German and French co-producers in a bid to raise 50% of the film's budget outside Scandinavia.