Scandinavian major Nordisk Film has just entered a first look deal with Swedish literary hothouse Partners in Stories.
Through the deal, Nordisk Film will have a first option on film and television rights on stories written by Partners in Stories clients such as Klas Östergren, Mari Jungstedt, Ruben Eliassen, Åke Edwardson and Peter Englund.
"More and more successes on film and TV are based on well-known novels. That is a competitive parameter, and we would like to be able to buy rights that we can develop both internally and with our external partners in Scandinavia and abroad. We will be expanding our business in Sweden even further, and our deal with Partners in Stories gives us a fantastic opportunity to get closer to leading Swedish authors in our constant quest for strong stories with strong audience potential," said Lone Korslund, Nordisk Film Head of Acquisitions & Co-productions.
Jonas Axelsson, Partners in Stories founder and former publishing director at Bonnier Book Agency said the opportunity to close this ‘unconventional’ cooperation with Nordisk Film was ‘an offer we couldn’t refuse’.
Book properties successfully brought to the screens by Nordisk Film as distributor and co-producer include the Beck and Johan Falk TV series, the Millennium and Snabba Cash/Easy Money trilogies and the current box office hit A Man Called Ove (1.4 million admissions in Sweden).
Upcoming major literary projects to be adapted for the silver screens include the drama A Serious Game directed by Pernille August, co-produced with B-Reel, the Viking epic Röde Orm/The Long Ships co-produced with Zentropa and the thriller Stallo co-produced with Avanti.