NEW 2026 NORDIC PERIOD SET PROJECTS: MARGRETHE ON THE CHILDHOOD OF THE DANISH QUEEN AND WW2 THE SWEDISH CONNECTION FROM NETFLIX

 2026 NORDIC PERIOD SET MOVIES AND SERIES 

MARGRETHE SERIES FROM DENMARK

Today's stop in our search for brand new period set international films and series is over in Scandinavia, starting with new Danish period set series MARGRETHE which follows a young girl which will grow up to become queen Margrethe II who recently abdicated in favour of her son Frederick. With her fate sealed from birth, the series follows her and her family’s daily life at Amalienborg, the residence of the Danish royal family, as well as the employees at court. Beginning in 1940, the six episode series will embrace the royal family for better or worse, on the palace’s polished floors and as they face political dilemmas, but first and foremost tell the story of the girl who was born a princess – and becomes heir to the throne as a young teenager in 1953. Done for Danish TV2, it stars Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Josefin Asplund as King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid, Kirsten Lehfeldt as Queen Alexandrine and Henrik Larsen as King Christian X, while Margrethe is played by several different child actors.

 

 THE SWEDISH CONNECTION FROM NETFLIX

Over from Sweden comes new historical film with Henrik Dorsin and Sissela Benn, THE SWEDISH CONNECTION which will hit cinemas at the beginning of February and then stream on Netflix from February 19th. Set in 1942, the film takes place while Sweden attempts to keep a low profile to avoid provoking Germany and risking occupation.The story centers on the legal department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs which, headed by Gösta Engzell, initially leaves most Jewish visa applications untouched to maintain the country’s neutrality. However, the arrival of a newly appointed staff member, Rut Vogel, changes the dynamic. As she begins to question the practice, coinciding with the circulation of rumors regarding extermination camps, a dangerous policy shift begins.

 

ROYAL BLOOD HISTORICAL HIGH END EPIC TV SERIES TO DEPICT STRUGGLES BETWEEN THE RULING ROYAL HOUSES OF SCANDINAVIA

    ROYAL BLOOD   

19TH CENTURY SCANDINAVIA EPIC SERIES

Scandi Alliance, which consists of Scandinavian national broadcasters, has announced ROYAL BLOOD epic TV series as their first production. Blått Blod will be a high end historical drama set to air in 2027 on TV2 in Norway, TV2 in Denmark and TV4 in Sweden. The six part epic miniseries will depict the dramatic power struggles between the Nordic royal houses between 1807 and 1814, a period of geopolitical change as Europe’s great powers collided. It will follow ambitious players from Denmark, Norway and Sweden as they seek to leverage power using any means necessary in their quests for supremacy. It will also air in Germany, Belgium and Netherlands.

FINLAND IS PREPARING A BIG BUDGETED MOVIE ADAPTATION KALEVALA: THE STORY OF KULLERVO OF THEIR FAMOUS 11TH CENTURY EPIC WITH LEAD STARS SET

  FINISH EPIC KALEVALA  

TO GET AN EPIC MOVIE ADAPTATION

As Variety reports, SF Studios is set to co-produce and distribute KALEVALA: THE STORY OF KULLERVO an expensive historical movie drama based on Finland’s national epic “Kalevala”! To be directed by Antti J. Jokinen it already has Scandinavian stars Elias Salonen and Eero Aho set as leads. Set in the 11th century it will be the first feature film adaptation of the Finnish national epic poetry compilation “Kalevala” which blends Karelian and Finnish folklore and mythology, created in 1835 by Elias Lönnrot, a Finnish doctor and explorer. With production starting in September, the film is scheduled for early 2026. release.

CALLUM TURNER TO LEAD A PRAYER FOR THE DYING PERID SET MOVIE DRAMA

   CALLUM TURNER TO LEAD  

A PRAYER FOR THE DYING PERIOD SET MOVIE

Currently scoring success in Masters of the Air and Boys in the Boat, our boy Callum Turner is ready to join another historical project: as Deadline

Callum Turner will lead the new movie

reports, together with Gustav Lindh and Kristine Kujath Thorp, he will lead A PRAYER FOR THE DYING from director Dara Van Dusen. Based on a novel by Stewart O’Nan, the film takes place in 1870 in Friendship, Wisconsin, a small town of Scandinavian settlers still suffering the repercussions of the recent Civil War. When faced with a new and even deadlier threat, one man is forced to make a harrowing choice: save his young family or defend the community that gave him a second chance at life and meaning. Shooting starts this summer.

TV SERIES ADAPTATION OF WILLIAM DALRYMPLE'S MUGHAL EMPIRE NOVEL THE ANARCHY FINDS A SCRIBE! SEE POSTERS FOR PERIOD SET MOVIES SULIS 1907 FROM NORWAY, SHANGHAI SOJOURNERS FROM CHINA

 DALRYMPLE'S THE ANARCHY 

FINDS WRITER FOR AN EPIC TV SERIES ADAPTATION

Just when we thought this project that I announced three years ago is no longer active, Wiip and Roy Kapur Films have revealed that The Last

Jeremy Brock will pen the adaptation

King of Scotland and Mrs. Brown scribe Jeremy Brock will pen the TV series adaptation of William Dalrymple's bestseller THE ANARCHY! The massive production to be shot in UK, USA and India will tell  the story of how one of the world’s most magnificent empires, the Mughal empire, disintegrated and came to be replaced by the British East India Company – a dangerously unregulated private company based thousands of miles away in a small London office just five windows wide. No news on the adaptation of Dalrymple's Koh-I-Noor book which was also announced three years ago.

 PERIOD SET MOVIE POSTERS 

FOR NORDIC SULIS 19O7

We are in the international waters today, spylings, as I have posters to present from two new period set movies. First up is SULIS 1907 from Norway, a historical drama scheduled for release October 6th. Directed by Nils Gaup and starring Otto Fahlgren, Simon J. Berger, Alexandra Gjerpen, Anders Dahlberg and Rune Temte, this period set movie starts in 1907, when the miners in Sulitjelma in Fauske in Nordland made a famous rebellion against greedy mine owners. 

 

CHINA'S SHANGHAI SOJOURNERS 

Shanghai Sojourners is in postproduction

is, meanwhile, currently in the process of post-production over in China under the helm of Leo Shi Young. It stars Xingtong Yao as a Chinese-American woman who falls in love with a Jewish exile in Japanese controlled Shanghai during World War II and must use every resource at her disposal to help him escape before the Nazis implement the Final Solution in China. Michael Koltes, Ketih Shillitoe and Thomas Dorn also star. Since it is a co-production with United States of America, the movie was shot in English.

SCANDINAVIAN SUNDAY: SEE HILMA PERIOD SET MOVIE TRAILER FROM LASSE HALLSTROM, THE DREAMER SERIES TRAILER WITH CONNIE NIELSEN ABOUT OUT OF AFRICA AUTHOR!

  HILMA MOVIE TRAILER  

FROM LASSE HALLSTROM

After the exciting updates from epic TV projects that Netflix presented to us at yesterday's Tudum event, we are continuing the weekend this Sunday by moving

Hilma will also stream on Viaplay UK

swiftly to Scandinavia, beginning our visit with the land of Sweden from which arrives the first trailer for new period set movie helmed by one of our favourite directors, always brilliant Lasse Hallstrom.

To open in their cinemas October 19th after which it will also be available on their streamer Viaplay, HILMA explores Hilma af Klint's enigmatic life, now recognized as one of the Western world's first abstract artists. The cast led by Lasse's and Lena Olin's daughter Tora Hallstrom, also includes Tom Wlaschiha, Lily Cole and Adam Lundgren. Beside directing and casting his wife and daughter, Lasse also wrote the script.

 

 THE DREAMER SERIES 

ON OUT OF AFRICA AUTHOR

Already streaming on Viaplay since last Sunday is period set TV series THE DREAMER (Drømmeren) aka Becoming Karen Blixen, which depicts the life of Karen Blixen, the author of famous Out of Africa played in the six

The Dreamer started last Sunday on Viaplay

episode series by Connie Nielsen. The story of this historical drama predominantly focuses on the author's return to Denmark after many years in East Africa. Penniless, sick and divorced, the story depicts her journey from this point to becoming a renowned writer. We met Blixen near ends, economically and emotionally bankrupt after her farm fails and her soulmate, as she calls English aristocrat Denys Finch Hatton, dies in an airplane accident and she is about to commit a suicide. This one comes from Denmark and features scenes in both Danish and English language. The drama was a part of Canneseries main competition this year.

SEE TOM WLASCHIHA, LENA OLIN, LILY COLE IN 1ST PHOTOS FROM LASSE HALLSTROM'S PERIOD SET MOVIE DRAMA HILMA

  FIRST HILMA PHOTOS 

FROM LASSE HALLSTROM'S PERIOD SET MOVIE DRAMA

Scandinavian leading streamer Viaplay is quickly expanding its business around Europe and is planning to offer at least 70 Viaplay Originals by the end of 2022, with the wider plan of achieving around 12 million subscribers by the end of 2025. One of the ways to attract the audience is doing more English language programmes so they hired our favourite director Lasse Hallstrom to direct their original movie HILMA, which he also wrote, starring Game of Thrones star Tom Wlaschiha!

NEW BIOPIC HILMA

explores the life of revolutionary Swedish artist and feminist pioneer Hilma af Klint (1862-1944, played by Tora Hallstrom), and beside streaming later this year on Viaplay, it will also bow this fall in theaters! In the film, Tom Wlaschiha stars as Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian artist and founder of the anthroposophical spiritual movement. Steiner became a key figure and mentor for Hilma af Klint who created more than a thousand striking paintings, sketches and watercolors that remained largely unknown until decades after her death. The film explores the enigmatic life of Klint, who navigated through the artistic scene to eventually become one of the Western world’s first abstract artists. Jazzy De Lisser portrays Thomasine Andersson, who became Hilma’s close friend and travel companion after working as a nurse for her mother. Lena Olin (the movie is a family affair as Lena is Lasse's wife and Tora is their daughter), Lily Cole, Rebecca Calder, Maeve Dermody, Catherine Chalk as the members of her group of female artists, Anna Björk as her mother, Adam Lundgren as her brother, Martin Wallström as her nephew and Jens Hultén as her brother, also star.

SF TUESDAY: SEE NEW CHARACTER POSTERS FOR PARAMOUNT'S SF TV SERIES HALO WITH PABLO SCHREIBER, NATASCHA MCELHONE! NETFLIX' BLACK CRAB POST APOCALYPTIC MOVIE TRAILER SENDS NOOMI RAPACE, JAKOB OFTEBRO TO FROZEN ARCHIPELAGO

   HALO SF TV SERIES   

LANDS CHARACTER POSTERS

Halo will launch March 24th this Spring

There is a number of big epic series arriving this year, and among them is Paramount + TV series adaptation of famous HALO video game which has just got a set of character posters after we got the new trailer and a launch date from March 24th a few weeks ago! Pablo Schreiber leads the cast as Master Chief, the Spartan in the middle of an epic 26th century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as The Covenant, who happens to be humanity’s best weapon against the invading alien race, as he was enhanced an trained for one purpose: to win this war. At least that is what Natascha McElhone’s Dr. Halsey says in the trailer. The cast also includes Jen Taylor as Cortana, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, a rather unrecognisable Charlie Murphy, Danny Sapani, alongside Ryan McParland, Burn Gorman and Fiona O’Shaughnessy. Watch below the trailer which opens to the brilliant and haunting new sf version of In the Air Tonight by Phill Collins. The series was created by Steven Kane and Kyle Killen and shot over in Hungary. It was originally set over at Showtime before it moved to Paramount Plus streamer. Jonathan Liebesman who helmed Shanara Chronicles and Otto Bathurst who is also helming Billy the Kid series over at Epix are directing the episodes.

 

 

  BLACK CRAB TRAILER  

FOR NETFLIX SF MOVIE

The mission starts March 18th at Netflix

Speaking of sf genre, check out the first trailer and poster for post apocalyptic sf movie BLACK CRAB which lands at Netflix March 18th coming from Sweden and starring Scandinavian stars Noomi Rapace and Jakob Oftebro and directed by Adam Berg who also worked on the scenario for the movie.  Set in a post apocalyptic world, this Swedish action thriller follows six soldiers sent on a covert mission to transport a mysterious package across a frozen archipelago without knowing what dangers lie ahead or who - if anyone - they can trust.But for speed skater turned soldier Caroline Edh, the mission is about something else entirely as she needs to save her daughter as well.

 

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON STUNNING 15TH CENTURY EPIC MOVIE MARGRETE: QUEEN OF THE NORTH WITH TRINE DYRHOLM, JAKOB OFTEBRO, MORTEN HEE ANDERSEN!

  MARGRETE QUEEN OF NORTH  

BRINGING SPLENDOR THIS FALL

The movie premiered this month in Denmark

Similarly to the situation on the small screens where we cannot really expect a lot of new costume drama till the end of the year, there won't be many period set films either gracing the cinemas around the world: there are only the two embarrassingly miscast flicks The Last Duel with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jodi Comer and always terrible Adam Driver, and new Cyrano with Peter Dinklage and Ben Mendelhson. And the only other two period set films are coming to cinemas around Europe in October directly from France: Eiffel, with Romain Duris (beside Pierre Deladon champs and Emma Mackey) playing the man who built the

Morten Hee Andersen (left) plays Margrete's adopted son

famous tower in Paris, and Lost Illusions, a movie adaptation of Honore de Balzac's famous novel. But also among them is MARGRETE: QUEEN OF

Trine Dyrholm takes the lead role in the epic movie

THE NORTH Danish epic movie starring Trine Dyrholm (from Erna At War) as their 15th century queen. Søren Malling, and our wildly handsome

It will spread around Europe in December

boys Morten Hee Andersen and Jakob Oftebro also star in the film which is already out in Denmark, and is moving to Sweden in December with Samuel Goldwyn Films distributing in Northern America.

  THE STORY OF THE FILM

The year is 1402. Margrete has achieved what no man has managed before. She has gathered Denmark, Norway and Sweden into a peace oriented union, which she single handedly rules through her young, adopted son, Erik. The union is beset by enemies, however, and Margrethe is therefore planning a marriage between Erik and an English

It is interesting that the film was shot in Czech republic not Denmark

princess. An alliance with England should secure the union's status as an emerging European power but a breathtaking conspiracy is under way that can tear Margrethe and all she believes in apart.

DEZZY'S HISTORY LESSON

The Kalmar union of Denmark, Norway and Sweden kept Scandinavian kingdoms joined for over a century. Margrete, the founder of that union, was

It is possible that the film will represent Denmark at the Oscars

also known as the Semiramis of North and Lady King. She died aboard her royal ship when she was trying to recover Finland for the Union as well. She

The film was directed by Charlotte Sieling who also worked on the script

was succeeded by her great nephew Eric of Pomerania as her son King Olaf II of Denmark (whom she had with her husband King Haakon VI of Norway) died before her.