HBO sister channel Cinemax is developing a dark crime thriller from the original creator of The Killing, Søren Sveistrup.

The bilingual project is Sveistrup’s follow-up to the hugely successful Danish crime drama Forbrydelsen (The Killing), which aired on BBC4 in the UK and was remade in the US by AMC.

HBO has been looking to develop a Nordic noir-style series for some time and has been in discussions with a number of Scandinavian producers.

Sveistrup who is thought to be a huge fan of The Sopranos and Six Feet Under, is expected to develop a show with a similar tone to those thrillers.

Piv Bernth, head of drama at Danish public broadcaster DR and producer of Forbrydelsen, said HBO had been hunting for a Scandinavian project for Cinemax.

“We are trying to develop something with them for the US. Cinemax wants something bilingual. They like the tough, hard stuff, the action dramas and we have Søren Sveistrup working on something.”

Last November, DR’s former drama boss Ingolf Gabold, the man who Bernth replaced, flew to New York to discuss the project with Cinemax.

Cinemax has been increasingly moving into original programming, co-producing Strike Back with Sky and Hunted with the BBC, as well as Alan Ball-produced action thriller Banshee.

Other projects in development include drug trafficking drama Kingpin from Ronin writer Chad St. John and Will Smith’s production company Overbrook Entertainment.