The duo behind the hit Nordic franchise “Snabba Cash,” helmer Jesper Ganslandt and screenwriter Oskar Söderlund, have re-teamed on “Cry Wolf,” an action thriller series starring British musician-turned-actor Eliot Sumner (“No Time to Die”).
Ordered by Swedish broadcaster TV4, “Cry Wolf” is based on “Vargasommar,” the anticipated debut novel of Hans Rosenfeldt, the BAFTA-nominated creator of “Bron” (“The Bridge”) and British series “Marcella.” Fifth Season has boarded international sales.
“Cry Wolf” will also star Eva Melander (“UFO Sweden”) and Henrik Dorsin (“Triangle of Sadness”). It will start filming in in Haparanda, near the border of Finland, in July. Melander is set play Hannah Wester, a 54-year-old police officer whose quiet life in Haparanda gets turned upside down after a wolf is found dead. The ordinary investigation becomes a sprawling criminal case connected to a bloody drug deal in Finland and sparks a series of brutal events.
Ganslandt said he “wanted to make a series that moves between dark humor, intense tension and raw violence in the border town of Haparanda.” The helmer also applauded the fact that they “have gathered an international cast in front of the camera and the best talents behind it.”
Speaking to Variety, Piodor Gustafsson, Nordic drama director for TV4, says the broadcaster scored a major coup by acquiring the rights to Rosenfeldt’s novel before it was published. TV4 “made a very early bid to acquire the rights to the book,” which was unusual for them, he says. “Usually we let the production companies acquire the right and then we develop with the production companies, but this time we did the other way around,” Gustafsson continues.
“Hans had created a universe that could extend into more than one season. He’s a brilliant screenwriter and novelist and it gave us a rich material already in the first novel, he’s planning to at least three in the same series,” added the executive. Josefine Tengblad, who is producing with Eiffel Mattsson at Nordic Drama Queens, has been involved in the project from the start as she previously worked at TV4 and was in charge of acquisitions for CMore. It therefore made sense for Nordic Drama Queens to board the series as producers.
Gustafsson says “Cry Wolf” will be “packed with strong characters, drama and action,” and will have a unique atmosphere, taking place in the summer at a time when the sun doesn’t set. The show also involves a workplace romance between the married Hannah Wester and her boss, a young and handsome cop from Stockholm. Sumner will be playing a fearless assassin whom Gustafsson describes as a “total killer-machine.” The exec says the series will also boast some dark humor, in the similar vein as “No Country for Old Men.”
The senior exec also pointed out “Vargasommar” marks TV4’s “big investment for 2024” and suggested there will be a season 2 as the pubcaster is “looking forward excitedly to the next book in the same series.” Besides “Cry Wolf,” TV4’s other anticipated series include “Estonia,” the ambitious period show about the maritime disaster and its aftermath which Beta is selling.
Gustafsson says the Swedish film and TV industry “has seen boom in the last three or four years.” TV4 has been able to finance series without streamers involved because it’s making joint acquisitions with its streaming service CMore. As a result, TV4 is “probably Netflix’s biggest competitor in Sweden” because the broadcaster takes all three windows (free-to-air, pay VOD and SVOD) on shows. “That means it’s difficult for them to collaborate with us, but I see in the future possibilities with Apple and potentially with Amazon,” continues Gustafsson.
Expected to premiere in the fall of 2024, “Cry Wolf” is co-produced by TV4 Drama, Fifth Season, ZDF and Filmpool Nord.
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