Starz secures US deal for NRK mystery drama

Starz has secured exclusive US premium pay TV rights for Norwegian mystery drama Monster.

The series is due to air in October this year across Scandinavia in Norway, for NRK, Denmark (DR) and Sweden (SVT).

NRK retains terrestrial rights in Scandinavia; DRG has all other rights in the region, plus all worldwide rights outside of these territories.

Commissioned by NRK in Norway and produced by NRK Drama, Monster is a serial killer thriller, set in the dark, brooding and remote landscape of northern Norway.

Monster will be available in the future on a multiplex version of the Starz premium channel and primarily scheduled on the Starz app and associated on-demand and online services.

Other recent deals for Monster 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, making Monster the first NRK drama for the platform. The series has also been licensed to Lumiere for Benelux.

Monster was created by headwriter Hans Christian Storrøsten, and director Anne Sewitsky, with Jørgen Johansson (The Bridge, Borgen, The Killing) as lead cinematographer.

The series is executive produced by Lasse Greve Alsos from NRK’s in-house drama department.

Scott Kirkpatrick, senior VP sales for North and South America at DRG, said: “With some of Norway’s most established and respected talent behind the scenes, coupled with fresh new on-screen talent and a darker twist on the more usual Nordic Noir content, Monster has been piquing interest ever since it went into production.

“We are delighted with these early sales and are confident that this superior event thriller series will attract many more international buyers over the coming months.”