Oxen is the television adaptation of the international bestselling book series of the same name by Jens Henrik Jensen recounting the story of war veteran Niels Oxen, a former special forces soldier who must conquer his inner demons as he is framed for a series of gruesome murders.

Oxen is directed by Danish veteran director Jannik Johansen (Borgen, 2011; Follow the Money, 2016) and will star Jacob Lohmann (Shorta, 2020) as Niels Oxen alongside Ellen Hillingsø (The Bridge, 2011), Josephine Park (The Investigation, 2020) and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen (Borgen, 2022). They are joined by the German speaking actors Reinout Scholten van Aschat (Sea of time, 2021), Luise Befort (Der Palast, 2021) and Julie Burkhardt (Letzte Spur Berlin, 2020).

Producers Michel Schønnemann and Senia Dremstrup at SF Studios say: “Reading the books, we saw big potential in a TV-series about Niels Oxen, and it has been a pleasure to work with such talented writers developing the material. From the very beginning we have dreamt of making an outstanding series and we are looking forward to bring this story to an international audience.”

Director of Sales at REinvent, Helene Aurø comments: “We are thrilled that ZDF and SquareOne have boarded the series. We have complete faith that the SF Studios and creators of the series will yet again produce a series that will succeed in travelling the world.”

Commissioning Editor at ZDF, Doris Schrenner states: “ZDF is proud to join forces with its German co-producing partner SquareOne Productions, SF Studios and TV 2 to produce the high-end series Oxen, featuring the highly decorated ex-military man Niels Oxen, a new, charismatic hero. ZDF's commissioning fiction department continues with “Oxen”, its co-production activity of bestselling Scandinavian brands, enjoying great success with adaptations by Stieg Larsson, Jussi Adler-Olsen and Henning Mankell, among others.”

Senior Editor at TV 2, Mette Vorm: “Our Scandinavian broadcasting partners saw the potential in this intense and character-driven crime at an early stage of the production, and it is wonderful to have them on board. We are confident that the strong team at REinvent will be successful at distributing Oxen to the rest of the world.” 

Al Munteanu, CEO at SquareOne Productions adds: “We are elated to finally be in production with such a stellar cast on Oxen after intensive years of development and are equally proud to have Jannik Johansen at the helm of this ambitious, returning series reminiscent of The Bodyguard with multiple twists and turns. Oxen has the DNA for must-see tv for our partners ZDF and TV 2 and for broadcasters and streamers around the world.”

The returnable six-episode series is created by Emmy-award-winning duo Mai Brostrøm and Peter Thorsboe. Their partnership began in 2000, writing the critically acclaimed TV series Unit One which was awarded an International Emmy for Best Drama in 2002. The innovative writing duo are also known for their hit series, The Eagle (2004-2006) and The Protectors (2009-2010), both of which won Emmy Awards for “Best Drama”. More recently, they created the Swedish show Modus (2015-2017), which was nominated for “Best Returning Drama Series” at the C21 International Drama Awards.

At present, the series about Niels Oxen consists of five books, and it differs from other books in the crime and thriller genre in that a good deal of the action takes place in nature, far from cities and police headquarters. The first three books in the series constitute a continuous trilogy: the story of Niels Oxen's showdown with Danehof, a secret power elite. So far, Oxen has been published in 14 countries and been very well received. In Germany, the books have thus gone straight to the top of the bestseller list.

Synopsis
Niels Oxen is Denmark’s highest decorated war hero. While probing into the death of his best friend, who died during a military mission in Mali, Oxen is wrongfully arrested for possession of narcotics. Oxen is dishonorably discharged from his military duties and retreats to absolute seclusion in Rold Forest. Yet when the owner of the forest, Hans-Otto Corfitzen, is found dead, Oxen becomes the prime suspect. However, the chief of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, Frigg Mossman, ends up recruiting Oxen to go undercover against the knowledge of her own organization and suddenly he finds himself in the heart of a deadly web of mysteries.

Oxen is produced by SF Studios with producers Michel Schønnemann and Senia Dremstrup i co-production with SquareOne Productions for TV 2 Danmark and ZDF with support from Nordic Film & TV Fund, Creative Europe and West Danish Film Fund. ROW sales handled by Reinvent International sales. 

The series will be broadcasted on TV 2 Denmark and ZDF in Germany in 2023.

For more information, please contact:
Senia Dremstrup, Producer, SF Studios, dremstrup@sfstudios.dk., +45 24 66 21 07
Malin Strihagen, Vice President Brand & Communications, SF Studios, malin.strihagen@sfstudios.se, +46 70 780 39 35
Helene Aurø, Sales & Marketing Director, Reinvent International Sales, helene.auro@reinvent.dk, +45 23 42 00 07

About SF Studios
SF Studios, established in 1919, is one of the world’s oldest film companies. Today SF Studios is the leading film studio in the Nordic region with its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden and offices in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and London. The company is producing and distributing feature films and TV series as well as providing the streaming service SF Anytime. SF Studios is part of the leading Nordic media company Bonnier.

About REinvent
REinvent is a packaging, sales and financing studio all in one. REinvent International Sales has extensive knowledge of original trends and sales opportunities in both the Scandinavian and international markets and represents SF Studios’ international slate of films and TV series as well as works with other high profile European production companies.

About TV 2
TV 2 DANMARK A/S is behind Denmark's most-watched public service channel, TV 2. The company also operates the TV channels TV 2 NEWS, ZULU, CHARLIE, FRI, SPORT, SPORT X and the streaming platform TV 2 PLAY. The Fiction department practices the Scandinavian Development Model and produces all series and film projects with independent producers. The Department commissions for both the main channel, the channel family and the streaming platform TV 2 Play.

About ZDF
ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) is Germany’s national public television broadcaster. It is run as an independent non-profit corporation under the authority of the Länder, the sixteen states that constitute the Federal Republic of Germany. The nationwide channel ZDF has been broadcasting since 1st April 1963 and remains on of the country’s leading sources of Information, Today, ZDF also operates the two thematic channels ZDFneo and ZDFinfo. In partnership with other public broadcasters, ZDF jointly operates the internet-only offer funk, the German channels PHOENIX and KIKA, and the European channels 3sat and ARTE. 

About Squareone Productions
SquareOne Productions is the production arm of leading German distributor SquareOne Entertainment, known for films like The Imitation Game, Book Club, All Is Lost, The Wife, Trautmann.  Under the stewardship of Al Munteanu the company develops and produces original feature and series projects across Europe and North America. Productions and Co-Productions this year include Your Honor starring Sebastian Koch, as well as the French version with Gerard Depardieu or TF1, France; Mafia Origin Story L’Ora for C5, Italy and SKY Germany; and Austrian serial killer bestseller Totenfrau for Netflix and ORF, Austria. Upcoming feature films include historical thriller Hinterland, directed by Oscar-winner Stefan Ruzowitzky and survival thriller Murdershow.