Netflix has added a new 9-part crime thriller to its catalog, which has managed to achieve a rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. Interestingly, the show in question is based on a book series that has previously been adapted into a movie in the past. The movie, unfortunately, failed to impress critics and earned an underwhelming Rotten Tomatoes score of 7%.

While only time will tell how the Netflix crime thriller in question will perform from a commercial standpoint, its critical acclaim already seems to set it up for immense success. Unlike the movie adaptation, the show attempts to closely adapt its source material, highlighting how much potential it holds.

The Netflix crime thriller’s critical success has already allowed it to make up for the movie’s failure, and if all goes well for it, it might even pave the way for a full-fledged franchise.

Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole’s Critical Success On Netflix Is Relieving After A 2017 Flop

Almost a decade ago, bestselling Norwegian author Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole book series was picked up for a big-screen Hollywood treatment. With Michael Fassbender as its lead and other big names like Rebecca Ferguson, Val Kilmer, and J.K. Simmons linked with the project, the movie adaptation, titled The Snowman, seemed to have immense potential.

Unfortunately, the film was panned by critics and still has an incredibly low Rotten Tomatoes score of 7%. Even at the box office, the movie struggled to leave its mark after earning a little over $43 million against a budget of $35 million.

After all these years, Jo Nesbø’s books were finally picked up again for a whole new adaptation. This time around, though, they were given the small-screen treatment. While it was hard not to be a little skeptical about how the show would turn out after the movie’s performance, the fact that Jo Nesbø served as its writer made it seem quite promising.

After landing on Netflix on March 26, 2026, Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole earned wide acclaim from viewers and critics. The show currently holds a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 100%, allowing it to redeem The Snowman‘s 7% failure. While the show only has 7 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes so far, the fact that all of them are positive still speaks volumes about its strong first impression.

It has effectively reversed the damage the movie caused to the original books’ reputation and also seems to have a good chance of returning with more follow-up installments.

Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole Continues Fascinating TV Adaptation Trend

Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole is not the only small-screen adaptation that has redeemed a franchise after failed movies. The Jack Reacher movies, which starred Tom Cruise, are widely remembered as entertaining yet ultimately divisive adaptations that failed to fully capture the essence of Lee Child’s iconic character.

Just like Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole on Netflix, however, Prime Video’s Reacher proved that small-screen takes on original crime thriller novels can often work better than big-screen adaptations.

A similar trend could be seen with adaptations of James Patterson’s Alex Cross books. The movie adaptations struggled both critically and commercially, but the books’ small-screen Prime Video adaptation has been doing really well so far. Even the Jack Ryan show proved to be a far better take on Tom Clancy’s novels than previous movie adaptations.

With so many small-screen takes on popular crime thriller novels proving to be far superior to movie adaptations, it would be fair to say that television has become the ideal medium for translating these stories to the screen. Hopefully, after Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole on Netflix, several other acclaimed crime thriller novels will also get a similar TV treatment instead of being picked up for the big screen.