Internationally acclaimed Icelandic actors Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Hera Hilmar are set to star in “Reykjavik Fusion,” a crime thriller set in Iceland that is seeing rapid advance sales in many territories.
The series deals underscore an increasingly attractive financing model, at least for selectively produced foreign-language shows, that relies on tie-ups and pre-sales between local broadcasters in Europe rather than waiting for a U.S. deal with a U.S. streaming company.
“It’s a dynamic ecosystem in Europe right now, full of potential partners,” said Erik Barmack, owner of Wild Sheep Content, which co-produces and distributes “Reykjavik Fusion” internationally.
Known to international audiences for his hairy face and large body, Olafur Darri is best known for his films The Tourist, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and True Detective. He has also starred in two successful films released in Iceland, Trapped and The Minister.
Hilmar starred in Peter Jackson's “Mortal Engines” and Apple TV+'s “See.” She has also starred in “Da Vinci's Demons,” “An Ordinary Man” and “Anna Karenina.”
“Reykjavik Fusion” is the first project to enter production from new Icelandic production company ACT4, which launched in late 2022. It is also co-produced with Arte in France and Germany. The show is a Simmin original in Iceland.
News of Darry and Hilmar's casting in the series comes as the crime thriller has already secured international pre-sales with AMC Iberia in Spain and Portugal and with public broadcaster YLE in Finland.
The chain has also been purchased by ERR Estonia, among others.
“Reykjavik Fusion” was created and written by leading Icelandic TV series producer Hörður Rúnarsson (“As Long As We Live,” “Black Sands,” “Fractures,” “Ordinary People”), executive producer and creator of ACT4, and co-created and written by award-winning Icelandic writer Birkir Blær Ingólfsson (“The Minister,” “Thin Ice”), head of development at ACT4.
Described as a mix between “Breaking Bad” and “The Bear,” “Reykjavik Fusion” stars Dari as talented chef Jonas, who is wrongfully imprisoned and tries to regain his family’s trust. Rejected by society, Jonas accepts illegal money to open a restaurant, exposing himself to money laundering and debt, putting his parole, his life, and his loved ones at risk.
Hjalmar plays Jonas' closest partner, who plans to exploit Jonas' naivety to devise his own escape plan from their master. Together, they plunge into a world of crime, where any wrong move could be fatal.
“Hera plays the right-hand woman of a moneylender who is still in prison when the series begins,” said Runarsson. “She’s a small woman who manipulates from right to left, very smart, street smart, has a lot of experience in the game, calm and collected at times, but tough.”
Directed by Icelandic duo Sammi og Gunni – Samúel Bjarki Pétursson and Gunnar Páll Ólafsson – production on 'Reykjavik Fusion' will begin later this August.
Lara Jóhanna Jónsdóttir (“Black Sands,” “Sense8,” “Trapped”), Guðjón Davíð Karlsson (“Blackport,” “Trapped,” “Let Me Fall”) and Atli Óskar Fjalarsson (“Operation Napoleon,” “Sparrows”) round out the cast, as do Leo Gunnarsson (“Driving Mum,” “Solitude,” “Noi the Albino,” “Fractures”) and Önnur Birna Bäckman.
diverse He spoke about “Reykjavik Fusion” — its financing model, tone, restaurant aesthetics and ACT4’s ambitions — to former Netflix International Originals president Barmack, who is executive producing, Rúnarsson, and Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson, ACT4’s CEO and executive producer who has served as creator and writer of “The Minister,” “Thin Ice” and “Stella Blómkvist 2.”
“Reykjavik Fusion” is achieving significant pre-sales. However, it will enter production without securing the United States….
Eric Barmack:The show is a lot like a band coming together. Scandinavian shows used to be done with four or five broadcasters. Then came the streamers and Viaplay. “Reykjavik Fusion” is a great Icelandic series with heroes who were part of internationally successful titles and partners in France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Finland and Eastern Europe. It turns out that in international TV you can have a decent business model without even thinking about the US at this point. We feel like we’ve created a global opportunity for our partners without needing US investment to get started, which is a great achievement.
“Reykjavik Fusion” is being described as “Breaking Bad” meets “The Bear.” But will it be as unexpectedly violent as “Breaking Bad”?
Hordur Runarson: No. “Reykjavik Fusion” is a fast-paced thriller that mixes dark nights, shall we say, with a clear expression of the intensity of running a restaurant. Getting money from a real con man should be easy. But it’s not that simple, and Jonas gets deeper and deeper into the underworld where people die, but he tries to be nice and get back to his family and keep running the restaurant, which is doing really well…
Jonas Margeir Ingolfsson: The restaurant is beautiful and aesthetically interesting. Þráinn Freyr Vigfússon, one of Iceland’s most prominent chefs who runs some of Reykjavík’s most famous restaurants such as Sumac and the Michelin-starred ÓX, is responsible for designing the menu and cooking on set. He has even gone so far as to take the people who will be working in the kitchen on the series, including Ólafur Darri, and train them at his restaurant in Reykjavík.
How does “Reykjavik Fusion” fit into your vision for ACT4?
Runarson: We started with a simple but clear and effective strategy: to take our time, to develop ourselves properly and to go bigger, better and bolder. And I think we are achieving all of these goals. I don’t think you’ve ever seen such a pace in a Nordic series, at least not in Iceland and probably not in the Nordic countries. We’re going deep into the kitchen and the restaurant, and we’re going boldly abroad. And we’re doing production things that haven’t been done in Icelandic series. We’re importing the equipment for the car chase scenes, for example.
Margeir Ingolfsson: It's not mentioned anywhere, but we try to not only provide the best and biggest but also provide the least. [series]We only work with projects that we love. We’ve been doing co-productions and pre-sales all the time in Iceland because the domestic market in Iceland is small. So we always had to go out and look for co-producers and pre-sales abroad. It’s called something like the co-production era, but that’s been our reality all the time. So we’re in a good position to be in the market now.
As not only a producer but also an international distributor, will you, Eric, look to use the same financial model you used for Reykjavik Fusion for other shows?
Barmack: Wild Sheep will have increased sales with local broadcasters in Europe. There are more interesting business models that can be implemented in Europe with local broadcasters. We have already filmed [“Erica”]in France with TF1. The networks are a little more open to taking risks. They’ve seen what happens if you let streamers take over their markets. It’s an interesting ecosystem in Europe right now. We’re seeing the power of global IP with “Yakuza,” based on the Sega game, which will be released on Amazon globally in October, and “Erica.” [based on the Fjallbacka crime novel series by Camilla Lackberg] It is distributed by TF1 in France. We have several exciting projects coming up with equally important IPs or big players that we believe would be ideal for co-production in Europe.
