Temporary cinema shut down from mid-March, followed by strict anti-Covid screen restrictions, and a lack of fresh titles - especially from the US - had serious effects on last year’s Icelandic theatrical market, according to figures from the right holders’ association Frísk.

Overall ticket sales plunged by 59.6%, year on year, from 1,267,635 in 2019 to 511,955 in 2020, and box office revenues by 57.8%, from 1,580,640,427 kr to 667,714,748 kr in 2020.

That said, local films benefitted from the absence of US fare, that dropped from the usual 85-90% market share to 71% in 2020. Also, as stressed by Daníel Traustason, Frisk managing director “when new films were launched, the attendance was very good.”

Two Icelandic broad comedies turned into huge box office hits and sailed to the top of the charts: The Last Fishing Trip and Grandma Hófi produced by Thorkell Hardarson and Örn Marinó Arnarson (aka the Markell brothers).

Despite screen capacity more than halved in 2020, the two films posted combined admissions of 57,734 (35,306 and 22,428 respectively), exceeding the 54,005 annual admissions for all Icelandic films released in 2019, a particularly weak year for local fare.

The third biggest Icelandic film was Ragnar Bragason’s The Garden, released in January, which sold 8,509 tickets.

With 70,552 total admissions, Icelandic films reached an all-time high market share of 17% in 2020, against 4.8% in 2019. In revenue terms, gross box office increased by 51.8% year on year, from 76,3 million kr in 2019 to 115.8 million kr in 2020.

The biggest US studio movie was Sam Mendes’ 1917 released January 10, which sold 24,671 tickets, followed by Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, released in August (21,895 admissions).

The most successful Nordic (non-Icelandic) films were: the Danish comedy Klovn-The Final (11,662 admissions), the Norwegian animated film Ella Bella Bingo (5,231), the Danish animated film Dreambuilders (4,535).

The biggest local documentary was The Hero’s Journey to the Third Pole by Andri Snær Magnason & Anní Ólafsdóttir, released in September, which sold 803 tickets.

To see Iceland 2020 - January to December 2020 Admissions Charts: CLICK HERE.