The success of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo may have spawned an oversaturated market for Scandinavian crime adaptations, but that’s not slowing down studios and networks. Deadline is reporting that HBO is developing an hourlong adaptation of Norwegian author Jo Nesbø’s 2008 crime novel Headhunters. A 2011 Norwegian film version starred Game Of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, while the English-language film rights bounced from Summit to Lionsgate a few years ago, before being transitioned into a television project.
Headhunters centers on a corporate executive headhunter who dabbles in stealing paintings from his clients’ homes, and a mysterious client who happens to own a rare work from Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens. Alexander Woo, most recently an executive producer on True Blood, will write and executive produce the series.
Scandinavian crime has a mixed track record on TV, with The Killing limping to a close after three seasons, the American adaptation of Danish/Swedish series The Bridge earning a second season renewal at FX, and the adaptation of Nesbø’s novel I Am Victor (with John Stamos) failing to make it past the pilot stage at NBC last season.