Today Thursday, just one day after the closing of the Olof Palme murder inquiry by Swedish officials, Sweden’s production powerhouse FLX said they have acquired film & TV rights to the book ‘Den Osannolika mördaren’- Skandiamannen och mordet på Olof Palme (‘lit’ The Unbelievable Killer’- The Scandia Man and the Murder of Olof Palme) written by journalist Thomas Pettersson.  

The latter is a key person in the now closed investigation about the Olof Palme murder back in 1986, as his reporting first led to the suspect Stig Engström (known as the ‘Skandia Man’) ultimately designated as Olof Palme’s probable killer. Engström cannot be prosecuted as he killed himself in 2000. 

FLX’s upcoming five-part TV drama will be adapted for the screens by seasoned writing duo Behrman and Rockström behind SVT/Netflix’s drama Caliphate and SVT’s crime series Before We Die. According to a statement from FLX, the project “has been in development for some time and was presented to several interested TV channels”. Production is set to start in 2021.

Asked for details about the project, FLX co-founder Pontus Edgren told nordicfilmandtvnews.com: “We are early on in the script process so there is no information yet on the creative take.”

In the book The Unbelievable Truth published locally by Offside Press in 2018, Pettersson presents a number of facts for the Olof Palme murder case, including how Stig Engström was dismissed from the police investigation on completely incorrect grounds.  The journalist also provided motives for Engström, known as the Skandia Man as he used to work for the Skandia insurance company. The suspect who was present at the scene of the Palme murder in Stockholm on February 28, 1986, was a skilled firearms user and had fierce anti-Palme views.

The book also uses interviews with a US expert on political murders, and with Olof Palme’s son Mårten Palme.  Asked by the Swedish media about the decision by Swedish officials to close the 34 year-long murder case, Mårten Palme said: “I think Engström is guilty. Given the current situation [Engström’s death], I think it is reasonable to close the investigation.”

The Olof Palme case is also the subject of another TV series, currently playing on SVT Play: the satire We Got This from US-born actor/writer Schiaffino Musarra produced by Jarowskij for SVT and Viaplay. 

FLX - co-owned by Edgren, prolific writer/director Felix Herngren and SF Studios - has several productions on its slate including the comedy feature Jönssonligan directed by Tomas Alfredson, set to premiere later this year.

After the hit Netflix show Quicksand, FLX has two more Original series for the US streaming giant: Love & Anarchy directed by Lisa Langseth (Euphoria), currently in post-production, and Anxious People to be adapted by Felix Herngren from a book by A Man Called Ove’s Fredrik Backman. The dramedy is in pre-production.