News The Brothers Lionheart Astrid Lindgren’s The Brothers Lionheart Is Coming to Apple TV From an Unlikely Pair of Co-Creators Can we get Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter next? By Molly Templeton | Published on December 9, 2025 Photo: Penguin Random House Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Penguin Random House Americans most likely know Swedish author Astrid Lindgren as the creator of Pippi Longstocking, but Lindgren also wrote half a dozen other children’s book series as well as a handful of standalone novels (and plays!). And now one of those novels is headed to Apple TV: Deadline has the news that the streamer has picked up The Brothers Lionheart, a melancholy and rich story about two brothers growing up poor in Sweden. Intriguingly, the series is co-created by Thomas Vinterberg (the director of Another Round) and playwright Simon Stephens (who adapted Mark Haddon’s Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for the stage). Both have experience with adaptations (Vinterberg also made 2015’s Far From the Madding Crowd), but it is a bit of a tone shift, especially for a director whose arguably best-known film is about four high school teachers trying to maintain a certain blood alcohol level. But it’s not like there isn’t precedent for a similar tonal shift. Jonathan E. Steinberg went from Black Sails to Percy Jackson, for example. When Vinterberg signed on to the project last year, he said in a statement, “The Brothers Lionheart is possibly the most important cultural legacy from my parents’ generation … It stands as a milestone from my childhood, shining vividly in my memory. The project is a great responsibility and, at the same time, a significant dream-come-true to create the series based on this immense and moving tale – and in that way, help pass it on to my children’s generation.” Vinterberg will direct all episodes of the limited series, which he will co-write with Stephens. According to Deadline, “The Brothers Lionheart follows two brothers who share an unconditional love that transcends life itself. Jonathan and Karl Lion journey through the magical realm of Nangijala, where whispered prophecies, terrifying dragons, and a tyrannical emperor force them to become the heroes their bond demands.” One can only assume that this synopsis is intentionally vague; it will be interesting to see how many details about the story Apple TV lets slip before it airs. The Brothers Lionheart has previously been adapted into a Swedish film and two musicals; an English-language film was in the works in the 2010s but appears to have fallen apart. This new version seems unlikely to meet a similar fate.[end-mark] The post Astrid Lindgren’s <i>The Brothers Lionheart</i> Is Coming to Apple TV From an Unlikely Pair of Co-Creators appeared first on Reactor.