EXCLUSIVE: Swedish network TV4 is hoping to cut through with an order for culinary competition show 100 Knives.
Banijay Entertainment label Mastiff Sweden will produce a prime-time version the show, which was co-developed with Banijay Americas-owned Bunim/Murray Productions and Smart Dog Media, as we revealed last year. This is the format’s first commission anywhere in the world.
The high-stakes culinary showdown has been billed as the “largest cooking show in history.” It sees 100 chefs, from food truck owners to fine dining apprentices, thrown into a high-pressure culinary arena where teamwork is everything and no one can afford to be the weakest link. They are split into brigades as they face escalating challenges. Chefs are eliminated in each episode, with an ultimate winner proving they’re the coolest under pressure.
Fredrik Arefalk, Director of Channels and Content, TV4 said 100 Knives is “a format that truly stands out in a noisy market,” adding, “At TV4, we have a strong tradition of launching original formats that capture the hearts of our viewers, and this collaboration is a great example of that spirit. Competition, dreams, emotions and food — it’s a powerful mix that we know engages, and we look forward to sharing it with our audience.”
“Audiences are gravitating to supersized formats with real emotional stakes – and we all know professional kitchens are a hotbed of tension and drama,” added Matilda Snöwall, CEO, Mastiff Sweden says. “100 Knives takes that intensity and scales it to huge proportions – one hundred chefs, brigade battles and relentless pressure. With TV4 as our partner, this is going to be a spectacle for viewers.”
Mastiff Sweden is known for making the local versions of Survivor and Love is Blind, also serving as a production partner on multiple adaptations of the Netflix reality show. The firm also makes Best Singer, Over the Atlantic and Trash and Treasure.
The 100 Knives deal comes on the eve of MIPCOM, which begins on Monday. Banijay Rights’ sales execs will be hoping for further deals throughout the week.
James Townley, Chief Content Officer, Development at Banijay Entertainment, said: “From its early development stages to first commission, 100 Knives is testament to how collaboration heightens creative ambition. There’s a growing appetite for formats that push scale and tension, delivering immersive and emotionally charged storytelling. 100 Knives takes the energy of pressure cooker kitchens and amplifies it to a level rarely seen on television.”
100 Knives joins Banijay Entertainment’s all-new slate of original and entertaining formats for MIPCOM 2025, including Let’s Play Ball, Football Island, Villa of Temptations, Foodish and Lost and Found in the Lakes.
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