Norwegian writer/director Jarl Emsell Larsen (Eyewitness) has hooked up with production mogul John M Jacobsen (pictured - The Heavy Water War) on the Norwegian WW2 TV drama Hero of the Seas.

The TV series is based on Norwegian author Jon Michelet’s four-part best-selling novels about the sailors in the Norwegian merchant marine during WW2.

Filmkameratene’s Jacobsen is producing together with Marcus Brodersen for pubcaster NRK. “To get the opportunity to make Michelet`s epic book series about the Norwegian war sailors is a dream job for any director” said Emsell Larsen whose last TV show Eyewitness picked an Emmy Award for Best Actress (Anneke von der Lippe) and is now been remade for the US.

Filmkameratene made history with its historical TV series The Heavy Water Water (Kampen om tungtvannet) that became the biggest Norwegian TV drama ever with an average 1.8 million viewers. John M Jacobsen said: “The Heavy Water War cost around NOK 75 million, but Hero of the Seas will probably cost well over NOK100 million. It’s a huge financing job, but the material is so great, I’m sure all the pieces will come together”. 

Hero of the seas is about 18-year-old Halvor Skramstad who signs on as an ordinary seaman on the liner Tomar as a first time sailor in December 1939. The ship is heading to China but in the Indian Ocean the news about the German invasion of Norway breaks out. The merchant fleet Tomar and its crew become part of the Allied war effort. 

Filmkameratene has an impressive track record at the Norwegian BO with films such as Børning, Operation Arctic, Max Manus and Troll Hunter. The company’s latest film The Lion Woman is represented in Berlin by TrustNordisk. It will open in Norway on August 26. 

Norwegian writer/director Jarl Emsell Larsen (Eyewitness) has hooked up with production mogul John M Jacobsen (pictured - The Heavy Water War) on the Norwegian WW2 TV drama Hero of the Seas.

The TV series is based on Norwegian author Jon Michelet’s four-part best-selling novels about the sailors in the Norwegian merchant marine during WW2.

Filmkameratene’s Jacobsen is producing together with Marcus Brodersen for pubcaster NRK. “To get the opportunity to make Michelet`s epic book series about the Norwegian war sailors is a dream job for any director” said Emsell Larsen whose last TV show Eyewitness picked an Emmy Award for Best Actress (Anneke von der Lippe) and is now been remade for the US.

Filmkameratene made history with its historical TV series The Heavy Water Water (Kampen om tungtvannet) that became the biggest Norwegian TV drama ever with an average 1.8 million viewers. John M Jacobsen said: “The Heavy Water War cost around NOK 75 million, but Hero of the Seas will probably cost well over NOK100 million. It’s a huge financing job, but the material is so great, I’m sure all the pieces will come together”. 

Hero of the seas is about 18-year-old Halvor Skramstad who signs on as an ordinary seaman on the liner Tomar as a first time sailor in December 1939. The ship is heading to China but in the Indian Ocean the news about the German invasion of Norway breaks out. The merchant fleet Tomar and its crew become part of the Allied war effort. 

Filmkameratene has an impressive track record at the Norwegian BO with films such as Børning, Operation Arctic, Max Manus and Troll Hunter. The company’s latest film The Lion Woman is represented in Berlin by TrustNordisk. It will open in Norway on August 26.