Vinterviken 2021 is a remake of the 1996 Swedish classic teen romance, based on Mats Wahl’s acclaimed novel and is produced by Endemol Shine Group’s Swedish brand Filmlance International. 

Netflix will handle global distribution and the world premiere in 2021, while Swedish pubcaster SVT has secured second window rights as co-producer.

“This is a landmark deal which paves the way for new ways to produce feature films,” said Filmlance International producer Teresa Alldén to nordicfilmandtvnews.com. 

Anna Croneman, Head of Drama at SVT added: “We will see more feature films being produced for an SVOD release, and at SVT Drama, we are keen to explore additional models to get Swedish stories off the ground. We are happy to join Filmlance in this co-production and to offer it to our local audience in 2022”. 

Vinterviken 2021 is the second Swedish Netflix Original film after SF Studios’ action thriller Red Dot by Alain Darborg (Alex), announced last November.  The US giant streamer collaborated earlier with Filmlance on SVT’s hit series Caliphate, nominated for the 2020 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for Best Nordic Screenplay.

Set in Stockholm in 2021, Vinterviken 2021 tells the love story between Elisabeth and John John, two youngsters raised light years apart, separated economically, socially and culturally. Until the day they start in the same high school class. The original film was the directorial debut of Harald Hamrell (The Restaurant, Real Humans). 

The contemporary version brings together producer Teresa Alldén, hip hop musician turned filmmaker Alexis Almström, and writer Dunja Vujovic who collaborated on the upcoming seriesTop Dog (C More/TV4) based on Jens Lapidus’ best-selling trilogy.

“Alex, Dunja and I are huge fans of the original film and had all been thinking separately about making a remake,” notes Alldén.  “I will never forget when I watched Vinterviken as a teenager in the 90ies,” recalls Almström. “A lot has happened since then, not only in a good way. A feeling of hopelessness is getting prevalent amongst young people, regardless of background. Therefore, I’m excited to share this hopeful story about young lovers breaking class barriers to the global Netflix audience.”

Lina Brouneus, director co-production & acquisition at Netflix added: “We’re thrilled to be able to bring a contemporary version of this modern Swedish classic to a global audience and we believe that the universal themes of love, class differences and segregation will resonate with our audiences all over the world."

Alldén said top actors will most probably be cast in the adult roles. “The big challenge will be to find new faces for the young lovers who were so wonderfully interpreted in the original film by David Tainton and Lina Englund,” she notes. 

Despite the uncertainty around the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on social interaction, the producer is confident that filming will start as scheduled this summer. “We are well prepared and will take all necessary health precautions,” she said. “Filmlance has actually continued working on the series Beck, and we’ve been watching them closely. We will shoot only in Stockholm, with a small crew,” she added. Sweden is unique among European countries not to have imposed a total lockdown.  

Netflix just announced a record 15.8 million additional paying subscribers in the first three months of 2020, under Covid-19 lockdown, more than double its anticipated 7 million new customers. The giant US streamer has now 183 million subscribers in over 190 countries.