MHz Choice Buys North American Rights To Icelandic Fine-Dining Crime Drama ‘Reykjavík Fusion’

EXCLUSIVE: As the U.S. gets ready for Thanksgiving, MHz Choice is putting crime on the menu.

The streaming service has acquired North American rights to Reykjavík Fusion, the Icelandic crime drama set in the world of fine dining. Following a deal with Erik Barmack’s Wild Sheep Content, the six-part series will debut on Kino Lorber-owned MHz Choice in 2026.

A contender at Canneseries in April 2024, the show stars Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Severance, Somebody Somewhere) as a talented chef working to rebuild his life after being wrongly imprisoned, who finally commits a crime when he accepts dirty money to open a fine-dining restaurant to launder money. The decision puts both his life and those of the people he loves in danger.

Icelandic-American actor Ólafsson also executive produces the series through his production banner Act4. His Act4 co-founder and writer Hörður Rúnarsson co-created it alongside writer Birkir Blær Ingólfsson, writer Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson, and directors Gunnar Páll Ólafsson and Samúel Bjarki Pétursson. Franco-German channel Arte was also attached, as was Icelandic streamer Síminn.

In Iceland, Reykjavík Fusion has been a huge hit, with Síminn reporting the first episode gained over 64,000 streams – equivalent to 140,000 viewers, or 36% of the country’s population. Over the six episodes, the series landed 215,000 streams. MHz Choice, which offers North American subscribers around 300 international series, will be hoping for comparable numbers.

“We think MHz viewers are going to devour this series. A crime drama shot through a culinary lens, Reykjavík Fusion offers the best of both, wrapped in an absorbing and indelible performance from Ólafur Darri Ólafsson,” said Lance Schwulst, MHz Choice’s Executive Vice President, Content Strategy.

“We’re particularly happy that this is our first acquisition from Wild Sheep Content, who share our belief that audiences are clamoring for distinctive, high-quality series from all over the world.”

Barmack, the former Netflix international originals chief, is a major proponent of internationally-produced and -financed series. “Reykjavík Fusion is Breaking Bad meets The Bear, and we couldn’t be happier that North American audiences will finally have a chance to see it on MHz Choice,” he said.

“Bringing Reykjavík Fusion to MHz Choice is an exciting milestone for Act4,” added Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson, an executive producer on the show. “From the start, we set out to tell a story that feels deeply Icelandic but resonates everywhere. We’re thrilled to partner with Wild Sheep Content and MHz Choice to share this world with new audiences.”

In a feature about the Icelandic boom in original scripted TV development, Act4’s Ólafsson pointed to how the country’s history as a location for car commercials had set up the strong local production infrastructure that allowed for Reykjavík Fusion to be made at an extremely competitive cost.

“We shot it for around €900,000 [$1M] an episode, which to everyone outside Iceland feels ridiculously low,” he said. “Coming from Iceland, you have to make resources go far, but we are lucky that we have had a mix of big-budget American and international productions come here, which has educated and created these really incredible crews. It also means we have equipment that probably wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have those big productions.”

Ólafsson added that Iceland and the U.S. had enjoyed a “good symbiotic relationship,” with American demand leading to the development of local production infrastructure that is now driving local development and aiding better scripting. “In other countries, it hasn’t,” he said. “In Canada or the UK, it takes over and you’re just doing American projects or you can’t compete with the money.”