Norwegian director Erik Poppe's Troubled Water (De Usynlige) has been optioned by Hollywood producer Basil Iwanyk of Thunder Road (Clash of the Titans), for an American version.

According to Scandinavian distributor Scanbox Entertainment, Iwanyk will develop the project with US-Icelandic producer Joni Sighvatsson and his Palomar Pictures.

Sighvatsson is also backing another two US remakes of Nordic films: Jim Sheridan's Brothers, produced with Michael De Luca and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman; and Jay Roach's Elling which is in development with 20th Century Fox.

From an original screenplay by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Poppe's third feature follows a young and gifted organist who is released from prison after serving eight years for child murder. He finds a job in a church and meets Anna, a vicar and a single mother and they develop a strong relationship. One day he is recognised by the woman whose son he was convicted for killing.

Launched at the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, where it won the ecumenical prize, Troubled Water was released domestically on September 22 and is now closing in on 70,000 admissions. The Finn Gjerdrum and Stein B Kvae production, for Paradox Films, is sold internationally by Germany's Bavaria Film International.