Danish major Nordisk Film, which produced the 14 original Olsen Gang films between 1968-1981 and in 1998, has received development support from the Danish Film Institute for a new feature to roll with Danish animation studio, A Film.
'There is still a lot of interest in the Olsen Gang,' explained CEO Jan Lehmann of Nordisk Film Distribution. 'Each of the films then took more than one million admissions, and when regularly aired by television they still attract between 700,000-1.1m viewers.'
A Film, which is credited with such movies as Terkel in Trouble, Asterix and the Vikings, The Ugly Duckling and Me, will handle the project. The company is backed by Nordisk.
Stefan Fjeldmark (Terkel in Trouble) will direct and Thomas Radoor will produce.
Originally created by Erik Balling and Henning Bahs, the Olsen Gang has entered Danish culture heritage. Three of the films are still numbers 1-3 on the all-time Danish charts. A street leading to the Vridsloselille State Prison has been named after Egon Olsen, the leader of the gang.
The original series travelled particularly well in the former Eastern Germany, where Ove Sprogoe (aka Egon Olsen) was received as a national hero. It has been remade both in Norway (as the Olsen Gang) and in Sweden (as the Jonsson Gang).
The first 14 installments of the Norway's Olsen sold 7.5m tickets between 1969-1999. A series of four prequels, the Olsen Gang Jr, has so far taken 1.3m admissions, with No 4, The Olsen Gang Jr and the Secret of the Silver Mine, still running.
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