Yahoo Finance NENT Group To Adapt Roslund & Hellstrom’s Crime Novel ‘Cell 8’ As Viaplay Original, Sets Cast
Crime novel Cell 8 by Swedish authors Roslund & Hellström is being be adapted as a Viaplay Original by Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group).
The gritty crime drama, centered on the subject of the death penalty, is the second Roslund & Hellström novel to become a Viaplay Original after the drama Box 21. The series will feature a Nordic cast and will premiere exclusively on NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service in 2022.
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In Cell 8, a man presumed dead is arrested on a ferry between Sweden and Finland, throwing detectives Mariana Hermansson (Mimosa Willamo) and Ewert Grens (Leonard Terfelt) into a mysterious and increasingly dark series of events. The case soon reveals a personal connection not only to Hermansson herself, but to a Death Row prisoner in the U.S. and a grieving parent consumed by the quest for revenge.
Willamo (Aurora) and Leonard Terfelt (Young Royals) both reprise their lead roles from Box 21, which received multiple nominations at Sweden’s 2020 Kristallen awards. Kristofer Kamiyasu, who recently appeared opposite Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, also returns in a supporting role. Additional cast members will be announced in due course.
The adaptation is written by Dennis Magnusson (Box 21) and directed by Johan Brisinger (NENT Group’s Thicker Than Water). The six-episode Swedish-language series is produced by Rachel Bodros Wolgers and Karl Fredrik Ulfung (Box 21) for Miso Film, with Jon Petersson as the show’s executive producer for NENT Group. International distribution is being handled by Fremantle International.
Filippa Wallestam, NENT Group Chief Content Officer said: “Roslund & Hellström’s storytelling is renowned around the world for good reason. They have an unerring knack of transforming social questions into unforgettable human faces, from the horrors of trafficking in Box 21 and now the moral complexities of the death penalty in Cell 8. Our latest adaptation is an ideal fit for Viaplay as we accelerate our international expansion.”
Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström’s books have been translated into 36 languages. NENT Group and Miso Film have the rights to adapt four of the duo’s books for the screen.
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