London/ Reykjavik –Buccaneer Media, producer of hit drama Marcella announces it has signed an agreement with internationally-renowned TV and film director Baltasar Kormákur and his production company RVK Studios to create an English language dramatisation of one of Iceland’s most mysterious murder investigations.
John Brownlow, whose credits include The Miniaturist for BBC One, Fleming for Sky Atlantic and feature film Sylvia is attached as writer for The Reykjavik Confessions. The Reykjavik Confessions is based on the controversial 1974 case where two men vanished in the barren outskirts of Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, ten months apart. Their disappearances triggered a national double murder investigation, their bodies never found.
After 6 months unsuccessfully trying to pin the murders on six young suspects, Icelandic police flew in so-called super cop Karl Schutz to tie up the case. Schutz was renowned within international police circles for ‘cracking’ the infamous West German terrorist cell the Baader Meinhof gang.
The investigation was set against the turbulent backdrop of a tiny island nation, split by generational divides and awash with bootleg alcohol. Iceland was thrust into the international spotlight as a strategically-crucial Cold War outpost as the USA and USSR struggled for influence. This battle for ideological and intellectual supremacy of the superpowers was perfectly encapsulated in the heated Bobby Fischer vs. Boris Spassky chess match dubbed the Match of the Century that was staged in Reykjavik and watched by a global TV audience of millions.
Meanwhile, the gunboat diplomacy of the Cod Wars with the UK played out as the Royal Navy and Icelandic Coastguard frequently clashed in the freezing waters round the island. Executive Producers are Tony Wood and Nicola Larder for Buccaneer Media, Baltasar Kormákur and Magnus Vidar Sigurdsson for RVK Studios and award winning investigative journalist and BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service presenter Simon Cox who has been studying the case for several years and is also consultant on the production.
Buccaneer Media is the production company behind ITV and Netflix hit drama Marcella and is currently working with some of the world’s leading writing talent including Irvine Welsh, Rose Tremain, Hans Rosenfeldt and Deborah Moggach.
