Hera Plans English-Language Remake for Valkyrien

Liza Marshall’s newly launched indie Hera Pictures has landed the English-language rights for the Norwegian drama Valkyrien.

Originally produced by Norway’s Tordenfilm for NRK, Valkyrien is a high-concept thriller set in an illegal hospital. The series centers on a surgeon desperately seeking to find a cure for his dying wife in an underground station and the Doomsday ‘prepper’ and civil anarchist who brings him a growing number of off-grid patients. Hera Pictures plans to relocate the drama to London, with actor Mark Strong (Kingsmen, Tinker Tailor) taking on the lead role.

Marshall said: “I compulsively watched this series in one sitting. It is one of the smartest, most gripping and unusual dramas I have seen for a long time. It will work brilliantly set in London in this age of political uncertainty and social unrest. Valkyrien couldn’t be more timely.”

Strong commented: “The concept of the series is both intriguing and highly original and the characters are all fascinatingly complex. It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to bring the English-language version to the screen.”

Laurent Boissel, joint CEO and co-founder of About Premium Content, added: “Valkyrien is so topical, contemporary and original and we have received incredible interest from U.S. and U.K. broadcasters, producers and agents. Tordenfilm and APC are delighted to entrust the English-language remake to Liza Marshall who, we are confident, will deliver an ambitious show with Mark Strong attached in the lead role.”