Warner Bros. is near a deal for Blood On Snow, the first of a two novel series by The Snowman author Jo Nesbo. It will be developed as a potential star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio to be produced by him and Appian Way partner Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Langley Park’s Kevin McCormick. Latter is producing an adaptation of Nesbo’s The Son at Warner Bros.

The book has been written under the pseudonym Tom Johansen, and it is about a hit man who is asked by his boss to kill the man’s wife. Trouble is, he falls in love with her and things get messy from there.

The book was sent out to buyers Friday by Nesbo’s agent Sylvie Rabineau at RWSG.

The Norwegian novelist will publish the novel next spring through Knopf, with the sequel, Blood On Snow 2: More Blood, to be published the following year. A year after that, Nesbo will release The Kidnapping, which is kind of connected to all this in that the kidnap victim is Tom Johansen, as Nesbo’s pseudonym becomes a character in his own right. Nesbo and Niclas Salomonsson are exec producing the film.

Jo Nesbø is an Glass Key award winning Norwegian author and musician. As of September 2008 more than 1.5 million copies of his novels have been sold in Norway, and his work has been translated into over 40 languages, selling over 9 million copies (2013). Nesbø is primarily known for his crime novels about Inspector Harry Hole, but he is also the main vocalist and songwriter for the Norwegian rock band Di Derre. In 2007 Nesbø also released his first children's book, Doktor Proktors prumpepulver (English translation: Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder). The 2011 film Headhunters is based on Nesbø's novel Hodejegerne (The Headhunters).