
Jens Lien to direct film version of crime novel ‘The Nation’s Gambit’
Action thriller The Nation’s Gambit is about to mark Norwegian director Jens Lien’s comeback to feature films after 10 years of directing TV series, including the HBO hit series Beforeigners.
The film is an adaptation of Johan Høst’s bestselling debut novel Delta: En nasjon i sjakk. In this story, the Prime Minister of Norway is kidnapped by a terrorist making a single demand: that the politicians in power join in on a game of chess over the Prime Minister’s life. With each chess piece representing various state employees and leaders of society, the Prime Minister will survive if the politicians win – but every piece lost to the terrorist means the loss of a human life. The politicians and their appointed rescue team, the Delta Squad, are faced with an impossible dilemma with only 24 hours to save the prime minister.
“I have long been a fan of Jens Lien, and the fact that he is going to make a film of my book is a surreal out-of-body experience for me,” Høst says.
The Nation’s Gambit is produced by the Norwegian production company Stig og Stein Studio with producers Stig Hjerkinn Haug, Fredrik Støbakk and Tale Bryn Teigene. SF Studios will distribute the film in the Nordics, while Reinvent Studios handles international sales.