Two screen adaptations and a television seriesof Evil author Jan Guillou'sbest-selling historical Arnadventures are currently in development by Svensk Filmindustri.

The project hasa $26.7m (22m Euro) budget, a considerable amount of money by Swedish industrystandards. Financing is currently in its final stages with Svensk awaitingconfirmation from several European film and television companies.

'In mid February we are expecting all financingto be settled up. We are currently looking for a Scandinavian director to helmthe project and will start shooting in the autumn,' said producer Waldemar Bergendahl.

Hans Gunnarsson, who previously adapted JanGuillou's Evil for the screen, is responsiblefor the two screenplays based on the three Arnnovels, also known as the CrusadesTrilogy.

The Arn storieshave a broad following in Sweden and have resulted in increased tourism in theparts of the country where the fictionalised historical stories takes place.Catching on to the trend, eight municipalities in the area have decided toinvest a total of $607,199 (500,000Euros) in the film project.

According to recent reports in the Swedishpress, Jan Guillou's licencing company which controls the rights to screen adaptationsof his novels, more than doubled its profits last year from $728,639 to $1.9m (600,000 to 1.6m Euros), following Mikael Håfström's Academy Award-nominated screenadaptation of Guillou's novel Evil.