Telemystery: FX Orders The Bridge to Series

FX Networks has given a 13-episode series order to The Bridge, an adaptation of the Danish/Swedish co-produced crime drama Broen/Bron.

In the original, a body is discovered — cut in half — in the middle of the Øresund Bridge, which connects Copenhagen in Denmark with Malmö in Sweden, requiring the cooperation of the two country's police jurisdictions to solve the crime. (Slight spoiler: it's actually two halves of different people.) In the FX version, a serial killer is operating on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, with El Paso Detective Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger) working with her Juárez counterpart, Marco Ruiz (Demián Bichir). Meredith Stiehm and Elwood Reid wrote the pilot screenplay and will co-executive produce.

"For years networks having been trying develop a drama series set on the U.S.-Mexican border without any success," said FX president John Landgraf. "I'm thrilled to say that Meredith Stiehm and Elwood Reid have become the first to crack that creative code and they have done so magnificently. … This one is special. The setting, the writing, the direction, and the way it is brought to life by Demián Bichir, Diane Kruger and the rest of the cast makes for truly riveting drama."

Production is expected to begin in April with a Summer 2013 premiere date.