Headlines
Starz Takes Norway’s Crime Drama Monster to US TV
Investigating A Mass Murder
♦ Over on Variety, news has just been announced that Norwegian crime series Monster will be heading to US TV via Starz…
U.S. cable viewers will get a fresh helping of Nordic Noir after Starz acquired Norwegian serial killer drama “Monster.”
The series hails from Norwegian pubcaster NRK’s drama department and centers on the discovery of a mass grave in a small Norwegian town. A local policewoman and a special investigator from the city are paired up to investigate the grisly crime.
The seven-part drama was created by Hans Christian Storrøsten and director Anne Sewitsky. Jørgen Johansson (“The Killing”), widely credited with helping to create the visual tone for the Nordic Noir genre, is lead cinematographer.
Starz has premium pay-TV rights for the U.S. The series’ executive producer, Lasse Greve Alsos (“Mammon”) from NRK’s in-house drama department, said: “Starz’s commitment to ‘Monster’ for the U.S. market is a significant landmark for Norwegian drama and revives Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous words ‘Look to Norway.’”
DRG is selling the series and has struck several international deals. SBS in Australia, Canal+ in France, Spike in Russia have all bought the show. MTG-owned streaming platform Viaplay has it in Scandinavia.
Scott Kirkpatrick, DRG’s SVP of sales for North and South America, said: “With some of Norway’s most established and respected talent behind the scenes, coupled with fresh new on-screen talent and a darker twist on the more usual Nordic Noir content, ‘Monster’ has been piquing interest ever since it went into production.”
The series will launch on NRK next month. The broadcaster has retained the free TV rights in Scandinavia, and elsewhere in the region it will be on NRK’s pubcast counterparts DR in Denmark and SVT in Sweden.
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