Apple, Mark Wahlberg lining up remake of Norwegian dark comedy ‘Headhunters’

EXCLUSIVE: Apple Original Films is lining up an English-language remake of Morten Tyldum’s Norwegian box office smash Headhunters with Mark Wahlberg set to star and produce.

Tyldum’s dark comedy premiered at Locarno in 2011 and stars Aksel Hennie as the titular character who juggles the illusion of a high life with diminishing income and earns money on the side by stealing works of art. 

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also starred in the Yellow Bird, AS Norge, and Friland Film production that was adapted from the novel by Jo Nesbo. It earned approximately $8.9m at the Norwegian box office and nearly $20m worldwide, making it one of the country’s highest-grossing local hits of all time.

Bill Dubuque, whose credits include The Accountant franchise and Ozark, is adapting the new screenplay and Apple Studios is producing. The project reunites Wahlberg with Apple who have action-comedy The Family Plan 2  in the works.

Earlier this week it emerged that Apple Original Films is remaking the 1964 French adventure comedy That Man From Rio. Fast & Furious franchise director Justin Lin is on board to direct Sydney Sweeney, who will also serve as executive producer. The project is described as a modern take on the Studio TF1 feature about a young man on military leave who rescues his abducted girlfriend from Rio de Janeiro.

Apple Original Films enjoyed its most successful theatrical release to date this summer with the tentpole F1: The Movie starring Brad Pitt, Kerry Condon, Damson Idris and Javier Bardem.

Joseph Kosinski directed and Jerry Bruckheimer produced the Formula 1 feature, which is poised to cross $630m at the worldwide box office and ranks as the highest-grossing original Hollywood release in 2025 so far, Pitt’s biggest theatrical hit in a lead role, and the biggest sports film of all time. F1 drops on Apple TV on December 12.

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