EXCLUSIVE: Elma, the Icelandic crime thriller series, will launch domestically on Síminn’s streaming service on October 15, as its producer brings new title NCU to MIPCOM.

The show, adapted from global bestselling author Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s book series, is set in the small port town of Akranes in Iceland. It will launch via Icelandic telecommunications company Síminn operates Sjónvarp Símans, a domestic television broadcasting and streaming service, which includes Sjónvarp Símans Premium, a subscription video-on-demand service.

Elma follows police detective Elma (Unnur Birna Backman), who returns to her hometown having fled a romantic affair that left her in pieces, and is assigned to the local force as a woman’s body is found lying at the foot of a lighthouse. Terrible secrets resurface from the past, and Elma’s colleague, Saevar (Nikulás Hansen Daðason), could prove to be her only salvation.

The creative and production team for Elma includes directors Katrín Björgvinsdóttir (Entrapped, As Long As We Live) and Þóra Hilmarsdóttir (The Rising, Katla), scriptwriter and showrunner Karen Björg Eyfjörð Þorsteinsdóttir, and series producer Andri Freyr Hlynsson. The co-production with Belgium’s Lunamine is represented globally by Mediawan, with a pre-sale to Finland’s MTV also in place.

Alongside Elma, Glassriver’s extensive scripted slate includes Avalanche, a co-production with Whatevergroup; Konráð, based on the book series by Arnaldur Indriðason; and another literary adaptation Reykjavik Noir, based on Lilja Sigurðardóttir’s novels. Also on the slate of scripted series is Hot Stuff, an Icelandic-Romanian coproduction with IDEA Film and Tango Metal, an Icelandic-Finnish coproduction with Helsinki-filmi.

“The Icelandic premiere marks an important moment for Elma, bringing a story that has resonated with Icelandic readers back to audiences in a new form,” said Andri Ómarsson, CEO of Glassriver.

“We’re delighted to have found a home for the series with Síminn, and to introduce local viewers to the world we have created – from the talent in front of the camera to the creative team who have brought this adaptation to life. We hope the series will feel both familiar and fresh to audiences who know the books, while also opening Elma up to viewers discovering it for the first time.”

‘NCU’ Launch

Meanwhile, Glassriver is headed to MIPCOM Cannes for the next week’s international TV confab. New for the market is NCU, which is being billed as Iceland’s first scripted procedural series.

Per the synopsis, “The NCU is an elite task force of investigators drawn from every corner of the Nordic region, united to solve the toughest crimes. The Nordic nations have long prided themselves on low crime rates and high levels of social trust. Each episode sees the team dispatched to a different Nordic country, where they must navigate local tensions, cultural nuances, and political pressures – all while solving a new case.”

NCU will join titles such as the Nicholas Weinstock-EP’ed Masquerade, Konrad, Reykjavik Noir and Manifesto on Glassriver’s slate.

Disney’s Jon Wax says The Remarried Empress, the lavish Korean costume drama set to make its world premiere in Busan on Friday, has substance to match its spectacle.

The series is a big-budget bet for Disney+, adapting a wildly popular webtoon with around 3 billion views worldwide into a lavish romantasy series. And ahead of its streaming debut, the signs are encouraging.

Tickets for a three-episode preview at the Busan International Film Festival sold out “immediately,” according to local press. Stars Shin Min-a, Ju Ji-hoon, Lee Jong-suk and Lee Se-young were also expected to make public appearances in the city.

Wax, executive vp of international original television at Disney Entertainment, discussed the series during a “Creative Conversation” hosted by the Motion Picture Association and Disney+, with support from the Korean Film Council. Moderated by The Hollywood Reporter’s Asia bureau chief Patrick Brzeski, the BIFF session followed opening remarks from the MPA’s Urmila Venugopalan and explored Disney+’s investment in Asia-Pacific originals and creative partnerships to help local stories reach global audiences.

The Remarried Empress has some familiar Disney ingredients — romance, drama and plenty of stunning costumes — but it also remains a deeply Korean drama.

“We obviously recognized the brand affinity for Disney, which is exciting,” Wax said.

He also highlighted the unusual combination of an all-Korean cast, Western Baroque costumes and European filming locations. But the show’s appeal went beyond its distinctive look, according to the exec.

“There really is a character story and there’s an emotional journey,” Wax explained. “That’s what really sealed the deal for us. That’s what made us want to do it — that the journey itself, it tells a story.”

The Remarried Empress sees Shin, one of the K-drama world’s biggest stars, play the beloved empress of a fictional Eastern Kingdom, whose apparently solid marriage to Emperor Sovieshu (Ju) crumbles when he falls for a runaway slave girl (Lee Se-young). Passions also rise when the empress finds herself drawn to Crown Prince Heinrey (Lee Jong-suk), heir to a rival kingdom.

The series is set to debut Nov. 4 on Disney+ internationally and Hulu in the U.S.

The production is being touted as one of Disney+’s biggest investments in a Korean series since the service launched in the country in 2021. It’s also part of a broader push to boost originals output three-fold across the company’s international markets over the coming three years.

Disney+ is also looking to strike more co-production deals with Korean broadcasters, hoping to improve both the quality and reach of shows for both partners.

“I’m hoping that we can sort of lift all boats a little bit with some more partnerships, and we really seek those out, and have an entire team devoted to it,” Wax said.

One example is the hit romance Perfect Crown, made with Korean broadcaster MBC. Wax pointed to the series as evidence of Korean content’s vastly expanded appeal beyond the violent thrillers and dark dramas that helped draw the attention of international viewers in the earliest days of the Korean wave.

“The Korean market is mature enough now, clearly, that I think you really have to judge it on all the same points that you would judge U.S. content in that it can be slick, it can be well produced, but that’s not enough,” Wax said. “It has to have a good character journey.”

The streamer also has more anime and Japanese live-action content in its sights.

“We want to do more,” Wax said, with a new series based on Death Stranding, the game from Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, planned for 2027. “But we need to walk before we run in Japan,” he added, noting that the Japanese production sector tends to move at a very deliberate pace.

“Korean content has already shown its ability to break out, and so we’re riding that wave a little more readily, but with Japanese content, we really want to make sure it works locally first,” he added.