Amazon to make big-budget TV show based on Swedish artist's hit dystopian books

The "Tales From the Loop" series is based on Stålenhag's book of the same name as well as sequel "Things From the Flood", which take place in an alternate Sweden in the 80s and 90s where a large particle accelerator caused unexpected side effects.

"I've known for about four years that there was an interest in adapting it. But the fun thing is that it's Amazon who bought it, I didn't know that until last spring. The biggest thing is the amount of money being invested in it – that means that there will be talent available to work on it. That feels great," Stålenhag told The Local.

The artist crowd-funded the original book, and has been producing artwork at a relentless rate in recent years.

"It's pretty crazy. The images have been popular, and these days little things can become really big without a huge budget. I've been making images every day for about five years. I've maybe made 300 images in this style, and the first 150 went to the first book. I've always answered comments on them online, and engaged with the whole community. It has its own life," he explained.

"The Kickstarter project has been the biggest thing as it's so clear: people see that there is money to be made in it. People are ready to pay for this, it works."

Stålenhag won't be involved in the production of the series other than in the consulting capacity in which he has participated until now, but said he definitely plans to go along to filming to say hello.

According to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the first series comprised of eight episodes will be filmed in Canada in 2019 with a budget of 500 million Swedish kronor ($56.4 million).

Fox 21 (producers of Homeland) together with 6th and Idaho (Planet of the Apes) and Swedish studio Indio will handle production of the show, while Mark Romanek (Never let me go) will direct.