Viaplay and Mikael Håfström to produce ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ as major feature film

• English-language feature is Viaplay’s latest major Nordic-themed film for local and international audiences
• Mikael Håfström’s film credits include Oscar-nominated ‘Evil’, ‘1408’, ‘Outside the Wire’, ‘Escape Plan’ and multiple award-winner ‘Quick’
• ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ produced by Viaplay Studios in co-production with Nordisk Film, and will premiere on Viaplay in 2023

Viaplay will partner with acclaimed director Mikael Håfström to produce the ambitious historical feature film ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’. Set in the year 1520, the film dramatises the dark and complex chain of events that led to an infamous massacre of nearly 100 nobles and civilians in the Swedish capital. The project is the latest in Viaplay’s commitment to producing two major English-language films every year about Nordic events and figures, following the biopic ‘Hilma’, directed by Lasse Hallström (Oscar-nominated for ‘The Cider House Rules’ and ‘My Life as a Dog’), which will premiere later this year.

‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ (Swedish title: ‘Stockholms Blodbad’) follows Anne and her foster sister Freja as they seek revenge on the men who murdered their family at Anne’s wedding. Their quest leads them to Stockholm, where they are drawn into a ruthless political power struggle between Sweden and Denmark that culminates in a mass execution known to history as the Stockholm Bloodbath.

Mikael Håfström is currently directing the Hollywood sci-fi thriller ‘Slingshot’, starring Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne and Emily Beecham. His film credits include the Oscar-nominated ‘Evil’; the highly praised Stephen King adaptation ‘1408’ with John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson and Mary McCormack; ‘Escape Plan’ starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger; ‘Outside the Wire’; ‘Bloodline’; and the multiple award-winning ‘Quick’.

‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ is planned to begin filming in autumn 2022, with on-screen talents to be announced in due course, and will premiere exclusively on Viaplay in 2023.

Mikael Håfström: “It feels great to work with Viaplay, the leading Nordic streaming service, to bring such dramatic events to the screen. Erlend Loe has written a page-turning script that is the perfect foundation for a female-driven, stylish and razor-sharp tale of revenge set against the bloody backdrop of 1520s Stockholm. Edgy, darkly humorous, bold, and with a profound emotional core, this is a story as relevant now as it was 500 years ago.”

Filippa Wallestam, NENT Group Chief Content Officer: “Our commitment to sharing Nordic stories with the world is both ambitious and unprecedented. The Stockholm Bloodbath shaped the destiny of our region, and Viaplay viewers can look forward to an epic and also deeply human film. Just like ‘Hilma’, this is a personal project for all the major talents involved, which will make ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ a unique streaming experience.”

‘Stockholm Bloodbath’ is written by Erlend Loe (‘Quick’) and co-written by Nora Landsrød. Helena Danielsson (‘Hilma’) produces for Viaplay Studios. The film is co-produced by Lone Korslund for Nordisk Film.

About Viaplay Originals

At least 70 Viaplay Originals are set to premiere in 2022. In the past three months, ‘Ida Takes Charge’; ‘Wisting’ season two; ‘Hammarvik’ season three; ‘The Prize of Silence’; and ‘The Box’ have premiered on Viaplay.

Upcoming Originals include ‘Wozniacki & Lee’; ‘Natascha Kampusch – A Lifetime in Prison’; ‘Delete Me’ season two; ‘Boys’; ‘The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen’; ‘Fenris’; ‘Gold Run’; ‘Billy the Kid’; ‘Last Light’; ‘Cell 8’; ‘Elvira’; ‘North Sea Connection’; ‘Limbo’; ‘Litvinenko’; ‘Karma and Jonar’; ‘Ronja’; ‘The Machinery’ season two; ‘The Uninhabitable Earth’; ‘Polish Murderesses’, ‘Black Dog’ and ‘Freedom of the Swallow’; ‘Partisan’ season two; ‘Honour’ season three; ‘Hammarvik’ season four; ‘The Holiday’; ‘Pørni’ seasons two and three; ‘Hilma’; ‘Sisterhood’; ‘Who Shot Otto Mueller?’; a biopic of Börje Salming; ‘Fadime’; ‘Taylor’s Island’; ‘What about Monica’; ‘Trom’; ‘THE KINGDOM EXODUS’; ‘Made in Oslo’; ‘Estonia: The Last Wave’; ‘Stella Blómkvist’ season two; ‘The Swarm’; ‘Harmonica’; ‘Perfect People’; and ‘Margeaux’.

Two major English-language films will be produced for Viaplay every year. NENT Group has also established a UK-based joint venture with FilmNation Entertainment and invested in US studio Picturestart.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Nordic Entertainment Group AB (publ) (NENT Group)’s Viaplay streaming service is available in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the US. Viaplay will launch in the Netherlands and the UK in 2022, followed by Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland by the end of 2023. We operate streaming services, TV channels, radio stations and production companies, and our purpose is to tell stories, touch lives and expand worlds. Headquartered in Stockholm with a global perspective, NENT Group is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (‘NENT B’).

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