Working Title are perhaps best known for film romantic comedies such as “Bridget Jones” and “Notting Hill,” but their latest project, “Jo Nesbo’s Detective Pit,” is sure to surprise audiences as they trade big knickers and chardonnay for semi-automatic weapons and increasingly wild cinematic deaths.
Based on Nesborg’s series of crime novels about a paranoid but flawed detective named Harry Hole (pronounced Hooley), the nine-episode series, adapted by Nesborg himself, is highly sophisticated but uses local language. Not only is it a gritty Norwegian-language drama, but it’s also full of bombshells as Hall (played by Tobias Santelmann) and his team try to track down a serial killer roaming the streets of Oslo. Avoid corrupt officers within your army.
“There’s some pretty shocking content in there, and what’s shocking to one person is funny, and what’s shocking to another person is vulgar,” Working Title co-chairman Eric Fellner said in an interview with Variety.
Read on to find out how the production team brought the action-packed drama to life, what Working Title learned from its first (and less successful) attempt to adapt Harry Hole’s novel to the screen, and why viewers can’t guess who’s behind the gruesome murders.
Can you tell us something about the program?
I don’t want to get too specific, but basically, as the show progresses, we get deeper and deeper into Nesborg’s world, and Nesborg’s world. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s pretty tough and (has) some pretty dark influences. Our characters have real flaws as humans, but it’s a TV show and it’s so exciting that everyone can watch it and expand on it.
Episode 1 is quite dark. Will it get any darker?
I don’t think it’s dark. Probably more than that. It contains some pretty shocking material, but what’s shocking to some is funny and what’s shocking to others is vile. In the same way that people perceive violence in Tarantino films, it’s powerful and therefore a good thing. they love it. Because you’re in the hands of the right storyteller (or Tarantino, the right director), and in Joe’s case, he’s the right storyteller. And the beauty of this series is that it’s his version of his book. Nesbo will be doubled. You can see Nesbø who wrote the book and Nesborg who produced the TV show.
How did Working Title become involved in the project?
About 10 years ago, maybe even more, Amelia Granger (head of film and television at Working Title) came to me with a book and said we should turn it into a television series. At the time, Joe was interested in making the film, but it took us 10 years to get the rights and now until now.
What did you learn from your experience adapting Nesborg’s “The Snowman” that you brought to this show?
To make a movie about Jo Nesborg, you need Jo Nesborg front and center.
This series is based on the fifth book in Nesbø’s Detective Hole series. Is there a reason you didn’t start from the beginning?
This was the story Joe really wanted to tell, and he felt it was probably the best way to start many series. So he’s going to take little excerpts from various other books and if people like this and want us to read more, we’ll find another book.
(The number) 5 becomes very important in the show. He sprinkles these clues throughout Episodes 6, 7, and 8, so hopefully we’ll never know who the culprit is. And you’re like, “That’s it!” “No, I’m sure that’s it.”
Was it commissioned by America?
It was commissioned from the United States and then transferred to Northern Europe.
Joel Kinnaman in “Joe Nesbaugh’s Detective Hall” (Courtesy of Netflix)
Was there any discussion about doing it in English?
Well, at first I was planning to set it up in English. At first I was thinking of setting it up in America. Then we thought, “No, we need to be culturally specific,” so we set it up in Norway, but we made sure everyone spoke English. And Netflix said pretty late in the process, “If we’re going to be culturally specific, let’s be culturally specific and local language.” And I think they were completely right.
How did Working Title work in terms of being able to review the script?
We did it, rightly or wrongly, just like showing a movie. So we got creative on every front. The only difference was the language, so we had to trust. Joe was in the center so I wasn’t too worried. We knew the translation was almost accurate to what we were reading in English. If you’re sitting on set and you’re watching a take and you can’t understand a word that’s being spoken, it’s very difficult to fully understand whether you understand it or not. But we trusted Joe.
And we trusted[directors]Øystein Carlsen and Anna Zachrisson. I think they’ve come up with a really cool piece of work that’s unique. I keep using this expression, “cultural specificity,” and I think it really resonates with me. And I think what we brought to the table was a combination of a sense of, “Okay, let’s break this show up a little bit and see if we can create something broader for a global audience.” We hope that the audience will enjoy the setting as it has never been seen before.
The show definitely looks high end. Could you tell me what your budget was?
No. It’s a luxury item for Norway, but it’s a low-end item for America.
I don’t think it’s cheap for America.
I know, I’m really proud of that. Øystein and Anna wanted to create a mainstream show. We had one DP (Ronald Plante) throughout, and he was absolutely incredible, giving off a very glossy, “Big Show” vibe, even when he was on his hooves. And the staff are really great.
It starts with a helicopter, but was that a real helicopter?
Everything in the movie is real.
Helicopters cost a lot of money.
You’re with the helicopter, then you’re outside the helicopter, you zoom in, then there’s a car chase, then there’s a huge car accident, and then you hit a tram and it flips over and falls onto the tracks. It’s a large-scale action scene. Then, as they rush into the bank, a man comes in with a gun and a woman is blown away. Yes, a lot happens in the first four minutes. That’s the trick to movies, and that’s the producer’s job. It’s about making things look as big as possible and trying to make them attractive and interesting enough to captivate the audience. Also, it is very important for Netflix to deliver drama within the first five minutes. I think I may have delivered too much.
I can’t believe I killed him off in the first episode (spoilers).
She is a big Norwegian actress. That’s going to blow people’s mind because people are comfortable with her being the third lead role.
Were there any scenes or stage settings that particularly left an impression on you?
The only big problem we had was that we had more story than time, so we had to make some pretty tough decisions about losing scenes. A lot of the episodes started out as 1 hour, 1 hour, 5 minutes, but there were so many that we rearranged the content a little bit, cleaned it up a bit, edited out some of the elements that we thought weren’t necessary, but other than that, we mostly shot the script. There was nothing we couldn’t accomplish with our limited funds. We had to get creative, and Øystein and Anna deserve a lot of credit as directors. They really gave the show a feel and a look.
How did Nick Cave and Warren Ellis come to be in charge of the soundtrack?
I want Nick Cave to do all the soundtracks. I want Nick Cave to soundtrack my life. He is truly a genius. When we asked him, he said yes. It was him and Warren. They are my musical heroes.
What else is coming up for Working Title?
So I think almost everything that is true has been written. we are busy. Many movies are being released. There are many movies in production or planned to be produced. The “Billy Elliot” tour is about to begin, and it’s coming to the West End, tickets just went on sale, and things are going great. And we have a few other musical theater projects lined up for ’27 that we’ll be able to talk about soon. So we’re pivoting — not pivoting — but focusing a little more on musical theater.
Was it a conscious decision or did things just fall into place?
These tasks are very time consuming and suddenly it’s like a bus with multiple projects going on at the same time. When it works, you say, “Okay, let’s take advantage of that.” I think it’s also a little bit that it’s very difficult to convince people to go to the cinema at the moment. I don’t know the answer. That said, we continue to create projects that we believe in and strive to do as well as you can, but it’s not easy.
So I think the idea is to do something different, do a little more television, do a documentary, do some theater. We’re not going to suddenly re-emerge as WT Creator Studio. I would like to do that, but I don’t think it’s in our DNA. We watch podcasts. we see everything. And while these are certainly challenging times, they are also exciting times. But we are very lucky. We can continue to do that because we have this large library and the great reputation of the company and a lot of connections with talented people both in front of and behind the camera. But it’s difficult.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
