Lars Bredo Rahbek, the producer behind the $7.6 (Euros 6m) Flame & Citron has signed up current Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen to play the lead character alongside co-star Thure Lindhardt.

Nimbus Film is currently working on the last rounds of financing with 75 % of the film's budget in place. The shooting date is now set for the March next year.

The Second World War thriller tells the true story of fighters who carried out assassinations for the resistance during the German occupation of Denmark.

Negotiations with major German stars are under way through Wuste Film.

Flame & Citron will be cut into both a feature film and a three-part TV mini-series. It has attracted funding from the Danish Film Institute, TV 2 Denmark, Nordic Film & TV Fund, Wüste Film and Regional Film Fund Berlin Brandenburg.

The film's director Ole Christian Madsens is currently enjoying success with his fourth feature Prague, which recently opened to positive reviews in Denmark and pulled more than 20,000 Danes into theatres in the first three day weekend of release.