Skyverse Nordic Adapting Nicolas Beuglet’s The Scream

Skyverse Nordic is developing a six-part adaptation of The Scream (Le Cri), the first book in Nicolas Beuglet’s trilogy of best-selling thriller novels.

The Scream opens in a psychiatric hospital in Oslo, where a patient is found strangled to death with the number 488 branded into his forehead and indecipherable drawings on the walls. While investigating the case, Inspector Sarah Geringen is taken on a journey from Oslo to Paris to the Ascension Islands, with the help of a French investigative journalist.

Skyverse Nordic, led by Patrick Nebout, is now seeking French and international co-production partners for the thriller series. It is also looking to attach A-list directing and writing talent to the project, which will be developed within a writer’s room led by a French-Swedish team of creative producers, including Henrik Jansson-Schweizer (The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared; Thicker Than Water; Midnight Sun), Guillaume Lubrano (The Cell, Dark Stories) and Nebout.

Nebout said, “The Scream starts off as a creepy Nordic noir, but soon morphs into something that’s more epic in terms of genre—and more international—as the action moves from Norway to Paris and the South Atlantic. The narrative mixes conspiracy and chilling adventure with Da Vinci Code vibes. But in addition to all that, it’s a story that makes you reflect on the things that really matter, like where we come from, where we’re going and how, morally and spiritually, we want to get there.”

The Scream is partially inspired by real events, according to Beuglet, who has a background in journalism. Specifically, it was inspired by a U.S. research program into mind control conducted by the CIA and FBI between the 1950s and 1970s. “Most of the tests were conducted on unwitting citizens, who were administered experimental drugs and chemicals provoking amnesia, paralysis and states of permanent confusion,” Beuglet said in a 2016 interview. “These experiments were carried out in institutions around the world. As a rule, all of my fictions start off with actual fact. A large part of my career has been spent investigating, digging-up and cross-checking information.”

The Scream was published in 2015 and has sold over 600,000 copies. It was followed by The Alliance (Complot) in 2018 and Devil’s Island (L’Ile du Diable) in 2019.