Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, James Norton to headline historical drama series ‘King and Conqueror’

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister in an episode of “Game of Thrones”
| Photo Credit: MACALL B. POLAY

Games of Thrones fame Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Happy Valley’s James Norton will lead King and Conqueror, a historical drama series on William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings.

The BBC and CBS Studios’ series hails from writer Michael Robert Johnson with a pilot directed by Baltasar Kormákur.

“King and Conqueror is the story of a clash that defined the future of a country — and a continent — for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea. Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown,” reads a plot description reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

Coster-Waldau is set to play William, Duke of Normandy, while Norton plays Harold, Earl of Wessex. The production is expected to begin in 2024.

Coster-Waldau and Norton also executive produce, with the former also directing an episode. Kormákur, Robert Taylor, Dave Clarke, Richard Halliwell, Ed Clarke, Robert Jones, and Martin serve as executive producers as well.