Suskind's novel is set in 18th-century France and follows a serial killer with a superhuman sense of smell and an ability to manipulate people using specialized perfumes. Director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas) adapted the book into a 2006 feature film starring Ben Whishaw and Dustin Hoffman.

The new Perfume series shifts the action to the modern day and uses the book's idea of manipulating people through scent as a springing-off point. A young profiler investigating a series of brutal murders traces events back to a small cadre of boys at a boarding school who experimented with manipulating people using human scents.

— Munich-based Constantin Film, who developed the movie Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (based on the novel of the same name), has developed a spin-off television series. It is coming to Netflix this Fall. Read more at Berlin: Netflix Buys German 'Perfume' Series at The Hollywood Reporter.