Veum, Veum!

Ever heard of Varg Veum? Yeah, me neither, I’m afraid. But according to The Thrilling Detective Web Site, he’s a “hard-working and even more hard-drinking ‘privatdetektiven’ ...” created by Norwegian writer Gunnar Staalesen, “who plies his trade (and does his drinking) in Bergen, Norway.” And now, reports European-films.net, Veum is set to become a film and TV star:

Trond Espen Seim, the Norwegian actor who portrayed the angelic nurse from Erik Poppe’s gripping 2004 drama Hawaii, Oslo, will star as the title character in a series based on Gunnar Staalesen’s bestselling Varg Veum novels. The 84 million Kroner (about €10.5 million) project encompasses a total of six adventures of the private eye, two produced for the cinema and four for television. Pre-production on the feature project has been underway for a month, with shooting scheduled to start in the Norwegian town of Bergen (Veum’s home town) in October. The first feature film to be shot will be based on Staalesen’s Bitre blomster (Bitter Flowers), which will be released theatrically.

It seems unlikely that we’ll ever have the chance to see these Veum outings in the States. However, the EuroCrime blog notes that three Veum novels--Yours Until Death, At Night All Wolves are Grey, and The Writing on the Wall--have been translated into English, so at least we have the opportunity to enjoy this Norwegian Philip Marlowe on the printed page.