ZDF Studios Teams with ACT4 for Crime Thriller Big Brother

ZDF Studios has partnered with ACT4 to develop the new Nordic thriller Big Brother, based on Skúli Sigurdsson’s award-winning debut novel.

Actor, producer, screenwriter and ACT4 co-founder Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (The Tourist, Severance) is on board as showrunner and executive producer of the series, which takes place in a town where, every full moon, a man is severely beaten by what appears to be the same perpetrator. The victims, however, are carefully chosen—they are sexual offenders who have evaded punishment.

A detective and an investigative journalist set out to solve the series of mysterious crimes. The story is told from their point of view, as well as from the perspective of the assailant, who sees himself as an agent of justice.

The writers’ room is led by Darri Ólafsson and includes actress Aníta Briem (As Long as We Live), Anna Gunndís Guðmundsdóttir and Teitur Magnússon.

“We are excited to partner with ACT4 on the adaptation of Skúli Sigurdsson’s brilliantly crafted novel,” said Yi Yiao, Director Drama at ZDF Studios. “The characters, the storytelling from two different points of view and the heightened suspense as the plot unfolds makes for a chilling, binge-worthy drama.”

Darri Ólafsson said, “As a crime fiction, the tale of Big Brother is thrilling and brutal, a very suspenseful narrative. It rises above its genre as it poses a difficult question for our society: Someone is taking it upon himself to punish sexual offenders when our justice system fails. Gradually his actions become more brutal and he starts killing his victims. Who do we side with, the self-proclaimed warrior of justice or the people who are trying to catch a murderer?”