'Drifters' helmer Peter Gronlund will direct the small-screen adaption of the best-selling novel by 'A Man Called Ove' writer Fredrik Backman.


HBO Europe has greenlit a Swedish-language series adaptation of Beartown, the best-selling novel by Fredrik Backman, author of A Man Called Ove.


Set in a small, hockey-obsessed town in the Swedish wilderness whose community is torn apart by a violent act, Beartown will be turned into a five-episode drama by director Peter Gronlund (Drifters, Goliath), from a script by Anders Weidemann, Antonia Pyk and Linn Gottfridsson. Ulf Stenberg and Aliette Opheim star.


Filmlance International, part of Endemol Shine Group, will produce the series for HBO Europe. Bonnie Skoog Feeney and Mattias Arehn will produce, with Backman as executive producer, alongside HBO Europe's Hanne Palmquist, Steve Matthews and Antony Root.


Beartown will be filmed on location in the north of Sweden early this year. The series will premiere day-and-date on HBO Nordic and across HBO Europe territories.


Backman's A Man Called Ove was turned into a hugely successful Swedish drama, which picked up two Oscar nominations in 2017. A U.S. adaptation, to star Tom Hanks, is currently in the works.


Beartown will be HBO Europe's third Scandinavian original series, following Gosta, an eight-episode drama, from Swedish director Lukas Moodysson (Together, Lilya 4-Ever) and the Norweigan sci-fi satire Beforeigners from the creators of Lilyhammer.