Endemol Shine North America, a division of Banijay Americas, is developing an English-language version of the hit international drama “The Truth Will Out” and has attached Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director/producer Joe Berlinger to the project, it was announced today by Sharon Levy, Chief Content Officer at Endemol Shine North America. Berlinger, who has won Emmys for HBO’s “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” and “Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America,” will direct and executive produce the series, which is from fellow Banijay-owned production company Yellow Bird in Stockholm, Sweden.
“The Truth Will Out” has set record ratings for Sweden’s Kanal 5 and has become an international phenomenon for Viaplay and Prime Video in its first two seasons. First launching in 2018, “The Truth Will Out” is based on an original idea by Leif GW Persson, and is written and created by Aron Levander and Hans Jörnlind. The series stars actor and comedian Robert Gustafsson, and is a co-production between Yellow Bird, Viaplay and Discovery Sweden.
“Joe is a celebrated filmmaker, a true force in television that I greatly admire, and someone I’ve been wanting to collaborate with again for some time now. He brings unmatched expertise in telling stories where crime and law intersect, and this sensational series from our colleagues in Sweden is the perfect project for us to reunite on,” Sharon Levy commented.
“Throughout my career as a filmmaker, my work has often focused on the ways in which human biases within the criminal justice system can have a tangible effect on how the system operates. I was inspired by how ‘The Truth Will Out’ addressed this phenomenon and am excited about this opportunity to adapt it for domestic audiences, with the American criminal justice system specifically as a focal point,” Joe Berlinger added.
The first season of “The Truth Will Out” follows Peter Wendel, a Stockholm police detective with a history of mental instability, and his newly formed Cold Case Unit, a group of misfit officers tasked with solving long-unresolved murder cases. When an unknown killer leaves a message for the police stating that Sweden’s most notorious serial killer is actually a fraud, Peter and his team work to uncover the truth, but immediately find themselves at odds with the powerful group of people who had the original killer convicted in the first place.