The Hunters () is a Swedish thriller film directed by Kjell Sundvall, which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 31 January 1996. A police officer from Stockholm moves back to his hometown Älvsbyn in Norrland, in northern Sweden. He starts to work on a long-running reindeer poaching case and soon discovers that his brother is involved. The film was one of the biggest Swedish box-office hits ever, grossing over $6 million, and received two Guldbagge Awards for Best Direction (Kjell Sundvall) and Best Supporting Actor (Lennart Jähkel). It was also nominated for Best Actor (Rolf Lassgård), Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay. Hollywood wanted to make a remake of this film, and the American producers wanted it to be about cowboys in the Nevada desert, shooting wild horses for fun. Kjell Sundvall agreed to this at first but later changed his mind. A sequel, The Hunters 2, premiered in September 2011. Plot Erik (Rolf Lassgård), a Stockholm police officer, reunites with his relatives upon the death of his abusive father in Norrbotten, where his brother Leif (Lennart Jähkel) still lives. We learn that the control the father exerted over the family had resulted in Leif's giving up singing (despite being clearly talented), and instead remaining at home with his father. Suffering from post-traumatic stress after justifiably killing a man while on duty, Erik has been transferred to the local field office. Erik soon starts to suspect that his brother's friends, led by the half-Finnish Tomme (Jarmo Mäkinen), are involved in large-scale illegal hunting of reindeer and moose. Erik is frustrated by the local police's unwillingness to deal with the problem, but as events unfold he discovers illegal weapons in Tomme's car outside a pub and decides to intervene. Tomme is close to assaulting Erik when he is saved by his brother. It is later revealed that Leif in fact leads the illegal hunting, but has been keeping this a secret from his brother. The police come under increasing pressure as the local community grows more angry that the poaching case has not been solved. Erik continues to spy on Tomme, and after breaking into his house, discovers illegal guns and numerous animal carcasses. Before Erik can alert his colleagues, he is attacked and knocked unconscious. Leif decides to suspend operations until further notice because of the increased police interest in the case. Several members of the gang are unhappy about