A Disney Nordic Noir? When’s the last time that happened? Probably never, but Deadline reports that’s what Disney+ has on the way as a six-part limited series. The streamer has an adaptation of Mikael Niemi‘s 2017 novel “To Cook A Bear” on the way, a 19th-century period piece that sees a runaway boy and priest team up to search for a killer bear in the nearby wilderness.
A nordic noir from Disney? That’s certainly surprising, but Niemi’s book has won over critics worldwide since its publication five years ago. And despite the novel’s grisly central mystery, “To Cook A Bear” focuses more on its two main characters and their deep, quasi-paternal relationship. Here’s a brief synopsis of Niemi’s novel. After a shepherd’s girl is found dead in a bog in Northern Sweden, the local village offers a reward to kill the bear suspected of the crime. But a preacher amid a spiritual awakening thinks something else is afoot, as he and a runaway boy from a nearby Sami village join forces to solve the mystery.
Swedish screenwriter Jesper Harrie adapts Niemi’s novel as a six-episode limited series for Disney+. It’s the first Nordic original for Disney+, with Anagram Sweden as the show’s primary producer. “To Cook A Bear” is the latest of up to 60 overseas originals the steamer wants to premiere in the next two years.
Vibeke Lia, Director of Programming and Production for Disney’s Nordics and Baltics, believes the show will have great stateside appeal despite being primarily a Swedish production. The upcoming series has “everything we want to offer our adult audience, a deep, rich story set in a truly grand Nordic Noir scenery,” she said in a press statement.
“To Cook A Bear” isn’t the typical Disney fare, making the project an alluring upcoming title for Disney+. The upcoming limited series isn’t just another MCU show or “Star Wars” spinoff. But will it find an audience? That remains to be seen.