“Whiskey On The Rocks” Coming Soon To Disney+ & Hulu
Disney has announced that details on a new Swedish Disney+ Original series called “Whiskey On The Rocks”, which is a political satire inspired by real events.
The series is the latest project from the team behind Academy Award-nominated Swedish film The 100- Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared and is a coproduction between Swedish national broadcaster SVT and The Walt Disney Company Nordic & Baltic.
In the early hours of October 28, 1981, a Soviet nuclear Whiskey class submarine was spotted aground inside a restricted Swedish military area. The world teetered on the brink of disaster. With global superpowers on edge, the eyes of the world turned to Sweden’s calm and collected prime minister, Thorbjörn Fälldin, a former sheep farmer, who faced the immense challenge of keeping peace between Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
Check out the teaser trailer below:
The show’s director Björn Stein, said in a statement regarding the new series:
“The true story behind Whiskey on the Rocks is both dramatic and absurd, and something we felt would work very well as political satire. The ambition was to use a visual and suspenseful language to contrast and enhance the humor, in a way you rarely see in comedies. Then when it shifts into true suspense we are already in that visual world. And although the events in the series happened more than 40 years ago, looking around the world today, it is frighteningly topical”.
Alongside Rolf Lassgård, Whiskey on the Rocks stars Elsa Saisio, Anders Mossling, Niklas Engdahl, Filip Berg and Adam Lundgren. Also starring is Lithuanian actor Kęstutis Stasys Jakštas as Leonid Brezhnev and British actor Mark Noble as Ronald Reagan.
Vibeke Lia, Director of Programming and Production, The Walt Disney Company Nordic & Baltic, said in a statement:
“We are very happy to have partnered up with SVT and Humanoids on Whiskey on the Rocks. Bringing the first Nordic production to Disney+ is incredible. The series is a testament to the richness of our stories, the talent of our region, and the global appeal of Nordic storytelling. We can’t wait for audiences around the world to experience the alternate version of what happened outside Karlskrona in 1981.”
With its mix of historical context, humour, and thrilling action, Whiskey on the Rocks is poised to entertain a global audience while shedding light on a lesser-known but pivotal moment in history.
The series is based on a story by author Jonas Jonasson, who had his breakthrough with the successful novel The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Henrik Jansson-Schweizer (Thicker Than Water, Superswede) is the series’ screenwriter. The director is Björn Stein (Shed No Tears, Midnight Sun), and the producer is Jan Marnell.
Executive producers for Humanoids: Patrick Nebout, Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, and Magnus Bimberg. Executive producers for SVT: Sonja Hermele and Anna Croneman. Executive producer for Disney+: Nanna Mailand-Mercado. “Whiskey on the Rocks” was shot in Sweden and Lithuania.
This is the first Nordic Original series to premiere on Disney+ and all six episodes will be released at once on Hulu and Hulu On Disney+ in the United States and on Disney+ in select countries, including the UK, Canada and Australia on January 22nd, 2025. The series’s six episodes will be broadcast on SVT1 in Sweden during Christmas 2024.
Are you looking forward to watching “Whiskey on the Rocks”? Let me know on social media!
Roger Palmer
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