Sweden’s unique and controversial non-lockdown approach to the pandemic, relying on recommendations rather than enforcement of anti-Covid-19 measures, will be brought to the screens by the creators of Quicksand, Love & Anarchy and The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared. 

Pontus Edgren, FLX co-owner and managing director told nordicfilmandtvnews.com today that his company has just acquired rights to the book The Herd (Flocken), currently being written by Swedish journalist Johan Anderberg, collaborator to various media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Focus and Expressen.

The book will be published in May 2021 by Albert Bonniers Förlag (Bonnier Books). 

Edgren said the most likely format for the anticipated drama will be a mini-series.  "The corona pandemic is probably one of the most discussed events in our lives”, he said. “Nothing has affected our lives so much, and Sweden's handling of the situation has ended up on the world map. The book The Herd delves into how it went when Sweden's strategy emerged in the spring of 2020 and FLX wants to film this in the form of a current affairs thriller.” 

Anderberg’s agent Astri Ahlander of Ahlander Agency who describes the book as a “fact-thriller” comments: “FLX has produced some of the strongest Swedish TV series in recent years and they have all the pre-requisites to turn The Herd into an equally original and urgent drama series.”

Publisher Albert Bonnier anticipates the publication of the book to have an “explosive” impact. “The Swedish strategy to battle Covid has been discussed all over the world. But buried in the trenches of this heated debate is the true story of how come, and for what reasons, Sweden chose this specific path."
For him, The Herd is in the vein of Michael Lewis's The Big Short, a pacy, informative and entertaining drama with heroes and villains.

Sweden has one the highest per capita death rates in Europe, with 7,007 deaths and 272,643 cases registered as of December 3. One of the tightest restrictions ever (maximum gathering of eight people in public spaces) is currently imposed on the population to curb the pandemic.

The Unlikely Murderer
The Herd, with The Unlikely Murderer, are two of FLX’s most topical and politically-driven series to date.

“We have a background in comedy and that still is close to our heart,” told Edgren to nordicfilmandtvnews.com. “But over the last 4-5 years, we have broadened our scope to include other scripted genres and we have since produced 6-7 major dramas, such as Quicksand, Blinded, Love & Anarchy and the upcoming The Unlikely Murderer to mention a few."

The five-part series The Unlikely Murderer will no doubt create much global interest with its fascinating storyline focusing on Stig Engström (aka ‘Skandiamannen’] identified as the probable perpetrator of Sweden’s former Prime Minister Olof Palme, assassinated in 1986.

As announced earlier the series based on Thomas Pettersson’s book “The unlikely killer: The Skandia man and the murder of Olof Palme” was adapted for the screen by Caliphate’s writing duo Wilhelm Behrman and Niklas Rockström.

The drama series is a fictional interpretation of how Stig Engström managed to elude justice right up to his death in 2000, through a combination of audacity, luck and a perplexed police force.

Charlotte Brändström (Conspiracy of Silence, The Witcher) serves as concept director and Simon Kaijser (Before We Die) as co-director.

The A-list cast comprises Robert Gustafsson (as Stig Engström), Eva Melander, Mikael Persbrandt, Peter Andersson, Joel Spira, Emil Almén, Shanti Roney, Torkel Petterson, Henrik Norlén, Lia Boysen, Magnus Krepper, Björn Bengtsson, Peter Viitanen and Cilla Thorell.

Fatima Varhos and Frida Asp are producing for FLX and Netflix.

Edgren said FLX has another four-five dramas in the pipeline for 2021-2022 in the sub-genres of true crime drama/thrillers, dramedy and current affairs drama.
FLX is co-owned by SF Studios, Edgren and Felix Herngren.