Starz to Bring Norwegian Series Monster to the U.S.

Starz has licensed the exclusive U.S. premium pay-TV rights for the mystery drama series Monster.

Commissioned by NRK in Norway and produced by NRK Drama, Monster is a serial killer thriller, set in the dark and remote landscape of northern Norway. In the series, a brutal murder reveals a mass grave that links old murder cases to missing people, and local policewoman Hedda (Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes) is put on the case with special investigator Joel Dreyer (Jakob Oftebro). Their different backgrounds, personalities and methods immediately set them against each other.

The series will be available on a multiplex version of the Starz premium channel and primarily scheduled on the Starz app and associated on-demand and online services, as the company has been heavily investing in such content, including kids; and Spanish-language content, during the past year.

Other recent deals for Monster, secured by DRG, include sales to SBS in Australia, Canal+ in France, RTS in Switzerland, Spike, Viacom’s new Russian channel and Viaplay, which has acquired the SVOD rights for Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The series has also been licensed to Lumiere for Benelux.

Lasse Greve Alsos, executive producer from NRK’s in-house drama department, commented: “NRK is producing some tremendous, award-winning drama at present and I am proud that our artistic talents have achieved a leap into the international arena over the last few years. Nobel is currently on Netflix and Valkyrien has recently launched to great reviews on Channel 4/Walter Presents in the U.K., so the appetite for our content is definitely growing all the time. Starz’s commitment to Monster for the U.S. market is a significant landmark for Norwegian drama and revives Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous words ‘Look to Norway.’”