‘Harry Hole’: Joe Nesbø Series Is Heading to Netflix!!

Netflix has good news for fans of dark Scandinavian mysteries. Jo Nesbø, the author of a popular series of mystery novels starring Norwegian detective Harry Hole, is adapting his work for a new series. The Hollywood Reporter has the news that Nesbø will be adapting his novel The Devil’s Star into a new series for the streamer, titled Harry Hole. No casting announcements have been made, but the series will be directed by Oystein Karlsen, whose series So Long, Marianne, starring Alex Wolff as the late Leonard Cohen, is slated to premiere later this year.

Nesbø, a former stockbroker and journalist, wrote his first Harry Hole novel, The Bat, in 1997, and has gone on to write thirteen books in total starring the tormented, alcoholic detective. He has written several other standalone novels and a series of popular children’s books, as well. His books have been translated into more than 50 languages and have sold over 50 million copies worldwide, making him the most successful Norwegian novelist of all time. Netflix‘s Harry Hole series will be the first time Nesbø has written for the screen, but not the first time his works have been adapted to live-action; in 2017, his novel The Snowman was adapted into a big-budget Hollywood movie, only to flounder with critics and audiences.

What Went Wrong With ‘The Snowman’?

The Snowman looked like it was headed for success, and had the potential to kick off a franchise. It boasted an A-list creative team, with Let the Right One In director Tomas Alfredson at the helm and Martin Scorsese (who was originally attached to direct) producing. The film starred Michael Fassbender as Hole, and the supporting cast included Val Kilmer, Rebecca Ferguson, J. K. Simmons, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Toby Jones.

However, the making of the film was beset with problems; thanks to a rushed production, Alfredson reported that he wasn’t able to shoot large portions of the script. The marketing campaign featured posters of a crude drawing of a snowman accompanied by the scrawled message “Mister Policeman, I gave you all the clues”. It was intended to be eerie, but most moviegoers found it hilarious, and it was subjected to intense online mockery. Reviews were scathing — Collider‘s Matt Goldberg deemed it “an endless slog, struggling to do the mere basics of making us care about the characters or the stakes of their investigation.”

Harry Hole, which will be produced by Working Title, was part of an ambitious slate of Scandinavian programming announced by Netflix. Other programs include Diary of a Ditched Girl, a series about the world of modern dating; The New Force, a 1950s-set drama about the first women to graduate from Sweden’s police academy; a second season of Barracuda Queens, which Collider deemed to be one of the best crime shows on Netflix; and film adaptions of the mystery novel The Key Series and the crime comedy Little Siberia.