Netflix, Finland’s Aurora Jump Into ‘Bordertown – The Mural Murders’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Netflix has acquired the Finnish movie “Bordertown – The Mural Murders,” a spinoff of the popular Nordic crime series which is now in its third season.

Produced by Matti Halonen and Johannes Lassila at Fisher King, “Bordertown – The Mural Murders” will start shooting next month and will be released theatrically in Finland by the newly-launched distribution banner Aurora Studios. Netflix has global rights to the movie outside of Finland.

The movie brings back “Bordertown”‘s key cast, Ville Virtanen, Anu Sinisalo and Sampo Sarkola. The screenplay is written by Miikko Oikkonen and Antti Pesonen, and Juuso Syrjä will direct.

The plot of the movie follows brilliant police investigator Kari Sorjonen chasing his arch enemy Lasse Maasalo. The movie is set against the backdrop of a social media voting contest in which people have voted on without whom the country would be better off. When three of the most-voted people disappear, Sorjonen is asked to come back to work to investigate the hate crimes.

“We are extremely excited to launch to movie theaters the award-winning and critically acclaimed Bordertown, which has been one of the top Nordic noir IPs,” said Antti Toiviainen, the CEO of Aurora Studios.

Matti Halonen, the Executive Producer of the film at Fisher King, said ”Bordertown is a big audience movie, and Aurora Studios is going for a nationwide theatrical release in autumn 2021.”

“It is also truly excellent that we have signed a worldwide distribution agreement with Netflix which means that probably for the first time ever, a Finnish-language film will be shown all over the world, from US to Australia,” added Halonen.

The filming of “Bordertown – The Mural Murders” will take place in and around Helsinki, the capital of Finland, under strict sanitary guidelines.

“Bordertown – The Mural Murders” is financed by Yle, Netflix, Aurora Studios, Business Finland and the Finnish Film Foundation.

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