Harald Zwart, who directed the Jaden Smith-fronted reboot of The Karate Kid, is to helm a six-part TV drama for Netflix.
The streamer has ordered the untitled thriller series from Scandinavian production company Motion Blur. It is written by rising writer Petter Holmsen and production has just begun in Skarnes, Norway.
The Norwegian-language serialized story is told over six episodes with a cast including Kathrine Thorborg Johansen (Live), Elias Holmsen Sørensen (Odd), Andrée Sørum (Reinert), Kim Fairchild (Judith), Sarah Khorami (Rose) and Terje Strømdahl (Arvid).
Live Hallangen is declared dead. Hours later on the forensic table she suddenly wakes up with a sudden urge for blood. Meanwhile, her brother Odd tries to keep the family driven funeral home afloat, but there simply aren’t enough people dying in the small Norwegian town of Skarnes. When Live’s bloodthirst keeps intensifying she soon realizes that this newfound urge can actually solve her brother’s problem. Live now has to learn to control her new dark nature and decide if she is willing to sacrifice people’s lives for her own survival and the survival of the family business.
The series, which will launch in 2021, is produced by Espen Horn, Hege Skjerven Clausen and Kristian Strand Sinkerud from Motion Blur, which also produces Netflix series Troll and Cadaver.
Zwart said, “I’m excited to be working with Netflix on this truly original story. We have a great cast, young, talented actors, who all embody the blend of Scandinavian mystique and dark humor.”
Tesha Crawford, Director of Nordic Original Series at Netflix, added, ”We are very happy to embark on our third project with Motion Blur, who have been such great partners to Netflix. Petter created such an intriguing mix of thriller, drama and supernatural elements with this project and we have a lot of trust in Harald and the wider creative team to bring this to the screen.”