Netflix Series Announced for The Chestnut Man

The Chestnut Man is a novel by Søren Sveistrup, the award-winning writer of The Killing, a Danish crime series which was then re-made in America. The Chestnut Man was originally published in 2018 and later translated by Caroline Waight to be published in January 2019 in the UK and September 2019 in North America.

During Copenhagen TV Festival, is was announced by Netflix that they are adapting the novel into an original series for the streaming platform. Production will begin in Denmark in 2020 with the executive production team SAM Productions, who are also behind the upcoming Norwegian Netflix original series, Ragnarok.

Like The Killing, The Chestnut Man is a Nordic Noir crime drama. It is set in a suburb of Copenhagen which is quiet and tranquil until that is the police make a shocking discovery on a windy October morning. They find a brutally murdered woman in a playground with one of her hands missing, above her hangs a small man made of chestnuts. It is up to the ambitious young detective Naia Thulin and her new partner Mark Hess to solve the murder case. Soon another curious piece of evidence comes to light, a link between the small chestnut man and the daughter of politician, Rosa Hartung, who went missing years earlier.

Tesha Crawford, Director Netflix International Originals Northern Europe said: “After the success of The Rain, we are excited to announce our next Danish Original which will be building on the great tradition of Nordic Noir. We were instantly compelled by the strong story and Søren’s voice. We are happy to continue the collaboration with SAM Productions and are looking forward to bringing The Chestnut Man to our global audience.”

While Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen, Executive Producer at SAM Productions added: “We are looking very much forward to bringing Søren’s amazing international bestseller to the screen, and we are very excited and proud to announce the continuation of our good collaboration with Netflix. The novel has been translated into 28 languages and it’s being published in more than 50 countries, we are therefore thrilled to be able to release this original Danish story, in the Danish language, worldwide with Netflix as our partner.”

And what did the author himself have to say? “Netflix has shown a strong, genuine interest in my book and I’m excited about the deal and confident that Netflix will be the perfect place for The Chestnut Man.”

The Chestnut Man series will compose of six 50-minute thrilling episodes and is set to launch on Netflix Worldwide, however, a date is yet to be announced.