The five-part mini-series Chernobyl written and executive produced by Craig Mazin (The Identity Thief) focuses on the nuclear plant disaster that occurred in Ukraine in April 1986, revealing how and why it happened, and the remarkable stories of the people who fought and fell.

Skarsgård plays Boris Shcherbina, head of the Bureau for Fuel and Energy of the USSR, appointed leader of the government commission on Chernobyl in the early hours of the accident. In the effort to confront the disaster, he finds himself trapped between the realities of the political system he serves and the human costs of battling an escalating nuclear nightmare. Other main actors include Emily Watson, Jared Harris, Paul Ritter, Jessie Buckley, Adrian Rawlins and Con O’Reill.

Johan Renck who directed David Bowie’s final music videos Lazarus and Blackstar, as well as the series The Fat & the Angry, Breaking Bad and The Last Panthers, is directing and executive producer. The creative team also comprises Iceland’s cello player and film composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (Trapped, Tom of Finland, Sicario: Day of the Soldado). 

Filming is currently underway in Lithuania on the event series produced by Sister Pictures (UK) and The Mighty Mint (US) for Sky TV and HBO, as part of a $250m multi-year co-production deal to develop big-scale drama.

Johan Renck’s next project is the Swedish film Nothing to be Afraid (Det finns ingenting att vara rädd för) adapted by Karin Arrhenius from Johan Heltne’s best-selling novel. The coming of age film is produced by BRF.