‘Gunsmoke & Mirrors’, Drama Series About Danish Criminal Turned American Frontier Hero Chris Madsen, In The Works

EXCLUSIVE: Denmark’s Lunderskov Magic, the UK’s CMG Productions and producers Nicole Finnan and Allan Sperling have teamed on a scripted series about a Danish criminal who became a war hero and American frontier legend. The show, Gunsmoke & Mirrors, is set in the late 19th Century and chronicles the transformation of Christian Rørmose Madsen, who reinvented himself in the lawless crucible of the American West. Proucers say it will blend “intimate personal drama with a broader historical and political perspective.” Michael Lunderskov created the series based on Madsen’s autobiography and contemporary accounts, along with Frans Ørsted Andersen’s Et Liv På Kanten (A Life on the Edge), the life story of the famed U.S. Marshall that the production companies have optioned. Alongside the scripted drama series, the group is also developing both a Danish- and English-language podcast, and a documentary, both of which will tap into new information that has come to light about Madsen and his impact on his adopted home country in the last year. Watch on Deadline “What drew me to Chris Madsen was the contradiction at the heart of him: a criminal who becomes the law, an immigrant who helps build America, and a man who spends his entire life trying to outrun who he once was,” said Lunderskov, a writer, producer and media entrepreneur. “Gunsmoke & Mirrors is not a traditional western. It is a character-driven story about power, identity and reinvention seen through European eyes.” His company, Luderskov Magic has previously worked on the likes of The Zookeeper, starring the late Sam Neill; Return to Sender, starring Connie Nielsen and Aidan Quinn; A Song for a Raggy Boy, starring Quinn and Iain Glen; The Black Pimpernel, starring Michael Nyqvist; and Prisoner of Rio starring Paul Freeman, Stephen Berkoff and Sonya Braga. For London-based CMG, this marks a first drama project and draws on the scripted experience of founders Rebecca Knight and Claire McArdle. The company has previously provided production services on Mobland and The Agency, but to this point has been known for docs and factual shows such as The Footballer, His Wife and the Crash, Death in the Heartlands and The Footballer Fraudster. “Gunsmoke & Mirrors is a defining project for us as we expand our IP-driven scripted slate and build international co-productions across key markets,” said McArdle, CEO of CMG. “This partnership with Nicole, Michael and Allan brings together an exceptional group of international creatives with a shared ambition to deliver a series that stands out. Gunsmoke & Mirrors reminds us that the American West was won not just by gunslingers, but by immigrants who forged new lives and helped to build a nation.”Finnan is the founder of Jaeger Media and former Managing Director of Alex Rider maker Eleventh Hour Films. She has been exec producer on the likes of Becoming Jane, My Boy Jack and Toast. She was also Managing Director of Caryn Mandabach Productions, where she helped lead Peaky Blinders into film, gaming and YouTube, before the business was sold to Banijay Entertainment in 2024. “Gunsmoke & Mirrors excites me because it has all the hallmarks of a fledgling brand we can build upon,” said Finnan. “The story is both grounded and universal, with the potential to spark debate about identity and the ability to reinvent oneself. It is also very topical in these crazy and uncertain times.”Sperling is a Danish producer and international media exec, known most recently for his run as Executive Head of Content at Africa’s MultiChoice and Showmax, where he spearheaded the likes of the first Emmy-nominated African drama, Reyka, along with shows such as Catch Me a Killer and Spinners, the first African series to compete at Canneseries. He called Gunsmoke & Mirrors “an incredible untold story of a Danish criminal turned frontier hero, with an amazing engaging team behind it.”