Swedish crime writer and screenwriter Camilla Läckberg debuted in 2003 with the novel The Ice Princess, the first in the Fjällbacka series about a husband-and-wife crime-fighting duo, which soon developed a worldwide following. Since then, the books of the Swedish “Queen of Noir” have sold more than 35 million copies in more than 60 countries, according to her website. And Läckberg has expanded into film and TV. Case in point: Netflix’s The Glass Dome, which the author wrote and executive-produced as an original story.
From Tuesday, her North American fans can watch the six-episode series Camilla Läckberg’s Erica on Kino Lorber’s subscription streamer MHz Choice, which focuses on international series and films and exclusively acquired the French hit series from Studio TF1 (where it is simply called Erica) for the U.S. and Canada. The show is the first French-language adaptation of her best-selling Swedish mysteries and covers stories from three of Läckberg’s novels, namely The Ice Princess, The Preacher, and The Stonecutter.
Julie De Bona (The Count of Monte Cristo) stars as the titular Erica, while Grégory Fitoussi (Nine Perfect Strangers) plays police captain Patrick Saab, who soon falls for Erica. Successful crime writer Erica returns to her hometown to find her friend Alexandra dead. Everyone is convinced it was suicide, except for Erica, who launches an investigation. Her past and present are soon entangled.
Camilla Läckberg’s Erica marks the third adaptation of the hit writer for MHz Choice after Swedish crime drama Camilla Läckberg’s Fjallbacka Murders and the older series Camilla Läckberg.
But why did the Swedish hit stories end up getting adapted for a French series through a more Southern lens before making their way to North America and other parts of the world, and how does that change the stories and their tone? Julien Magnat, the L.A.-based French writer on the series, and producer, and former Netflix executive, Erik Barmack, whose Wild Sheep Content is a producer on the show, shared some insights with THR.
“One element that we kept in mind was this cozy crime vibe,” Magnat explains. “They’re always drinking tea. We sort of stuck that into every episode.”
Camilla Läckberg’s Erica is designed to be comfort food for the soul, so to speak. “In the world that we live in, where everything is dark and complicated, and you have shows where everybody is on meth or bipolar, we wanted to go back to this sort of Agatha Christie character,” the writer tells THR. But while British sleuths wear raincoats or umbrellas, Erica is more suited for a beautiful French scarf. “I think the scarf is definitely a highlight of the show,” Magnat offers. “My friends call her the scarf lady, because she’s got a wonderful scarf. That mixing of the French elegance and the timelessness of that part of France, with these really beautiful, little stores, creates its own vibe.”
Barmack echoes that. “We were trying to warm up Nordic Noir,” he explains. “In a lot of Nordic series, the lighting is very flat. It’s usually in the snow, there’s a severity to it, and there’s humor, but it’s dark humor. We thought that it could be warmer and have more of a French sensibility, allowing you to look at this beautiful beach town.”
Indeed, the production went to the surfing town of Hossegor, near Biarritz. “The fact that it’s a warmer, sunnier place changes the aperture of the narrative,” the producer tells THR. The location also fits a key dynamic that the series is adding, compared to the original novels. “We have a crime writer coming from Paris and returning to her smaller hometown on the Atlantic, where everybody knows each other. There are differences in culture between Paris and places outside of Paris, which we thought could be teased out. We thought that would lead to a little more humor and a little bit more of a fish-out-of-water story.”
The bestseller author, who worked on the adaptation with the rest of the creative team, was happy to update her novels for the new series. “I loved the idea of Erica going French,” Läckberg tells THR. “But of course, changes have to be made – a different location, some names have changed, and there is also a French ‘flair.’”
So, Camilla Läckberg’s Erica is its own creation with its own tone. But the French series’ writer offers up some comparisons. “It’s basically Amelie meets Desperate Housewives with a little bit of Only Murders in the Building,” Magnat says with a laugh. “With Gale Weathers,” the Courteney Cox character in the Scream franchise.
Barmack also mentions one of the shows referenced by the writer, saying that he hopes the Erica series will speak to fans of such hits as Only Murders in the Building. “What makes cozy crime relatable is that there can be a little bit of transgression that’s funny,” he tells THR. “These people know each other, are flawed, and are poking their noses into things. They are not true detectives, but people nosing around, maybe where they shouldn’t. And I think that leads to a certain kind of warmth in the storytelling. It makes it a little bit of a guilty pleasure.”
But the series also has all sorts of action, maybe more so than other European series tend to have, which Magnat chalks up to his experience in and understanding of both France and the U.S. “I think I have a lot more action and visual things happening in my stories than more typical French series, where it is more about talking,” he says. “The main difference between France and America is that in America, you just put the characters in jeopardy, so that the stories are more exciting, more gripping, and thrilling.” Concludes the writer: “I think I know what people like here in the U.S. and what people like in France. Hopefully, Americans will find it cute and slightly different, and there is more genre-based, dynamic storytelling with suspense for Europeans.”
With at least a second season of Camilla Läckberg’s Erica coming and third season in development, could there be even more from the bestseller writer on the way?
Barmack emphasizes that he would be happy to continue collaborating with Läckberg. “We have a great relationship with her, and there’s also an Italian version of the show in the works,” he says. “There are other projects that we’ve been looking at with her. I think if Camilla were not in Sweden, but in Silver Lake, or Sherman Oaks, you’d be s looking at Harlan Coben as a comp, or Stephen King as a comp –these massive authors that are constantly getting adapted.” Concludes Barmack: “I think that’s going to happen with Camilla. It’s just that in Europe, people are a little bit more tentative in taking IP and putting it in different markets. But it should 100 percent happen for Camilla, and we’re there to support her as it happens.”
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