Netflix teams with director Nicolas Winding Refn for Copenhagen Cowboy noir

Netflix has filmed a new Danish drama created by Nicolas Winding Refn, creator of the Pusher trilogy, Drive and The Neon Demon.

Nicolas Winding Refn

Copenhagen Cowboy is described by the streamer as a poetic, thrill-inducing, neon-drenched noir series about a young heroine, played by Angela Bundalovic, who travels through Copenhagen’s criminal netherworld.

The six-episode series has already been filmed in Denmark and is set to launch globally on Netflix later this year. Netflix has since suspended the development of new series and films in Denmark after the Danish Producers’ Association thrashed out a new agreement requiring higher payments to artists.

Created and directed by Winding Refn, Copenhagen Cowboy was written by Sara Isabella Jønsson, Johanne Algren and Mona Masri. Producers are Lene Børglum and Christina Erritzøe and the series was produced by NWR Originals.

Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen and grew up in New York. He is best known for the Pusher trilogy (1996–2005), Bronson (2008), Valhalla Rising (2009), Drive (2011), Only God Forgives (2013), The Neon Demon (2016) and series Too Old to Die Young (2019).

Alongside Bundalovic, Copenhagen Cowboy stars Lola Corfixen, Zlatko Buric, Andreas Lykke Jørgensen, Jason Hendil-Forssell, Li Ii Zhang, Dragana Milutinovic, Mikael Bertelsen and Mads Brügger.

Winding Refn said: “With Copenhagen Cowboy, I am returning to my past to shape my future by creating a series, an expansion of my constantly evolving alter-egos, now in the form of my young heroine, Miu.”

Jenny Stjernströmer Björk, director of Nordic original series at Netflix, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to finally be able to announce that we have partnered up with Nicolas Winding Refn, one of Denmark’s most acclaimed filmmakers, and are bringing him back to Denmark to produce a local Danish show after more than 15 years abroad. Nicolas is a creative force and is such a fascinating and unpredictable filmmaker.”

Meanwhile, in South Korea, screenwriter and lead actress of K-drama Descendants of the Sun are pairing up again for Netflix series The Glory.

Screenwriter Kim Eun-sook (The King: Eternal Monarch, Mr Sunshine, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Inheritors, Secret Garden) has turned her hand to this revenge saga about a girl who had to forgo her dreams because of school bullying.

Song Hye-kyo, one of Korea’s top female leads, plays Moon Dong-eun, who is seeking revenge on the bullies who destroyed her childhood.

The Glory will be directed by Ahn Gil-ho, known for thrillers such as Happiness, Record of Youth, Watcher, Memories of the Alhambra and Stranger.