According to the Norwegian cinema association Film & Kino’s Yearbook 2022, box office revenues in Norway were up 63.1% to NOK 1.1 billion and admissions up 54.8% from 2021 to 8.76 million, although still around 30% below pre-pandemic level.

A total of 216 films premiered in 2022 including 32 Norwegian films - the highest volume since 2018 (33), which led - to some extent - to cannibalisation for local fare, noted Film & Kino, especially in the busy fall period. But the strong offer the last semester 2022 also meant that admissions passed the one million benchmark both in October and in December, and the upward trend continued in January 2023.

“Norwegian cinemas had a great start to the new year with a very strong Christmas. Now the upswing continues, and we in the cinema industry are very happy about that. After a tough Covid period in 2020 and 2021, we think we deserve an upturn,” said Film & Kino managing director Espen Lundberg Pedersen.

US fare as always, took the lion share of the market in 2022 with 62.8% and top four spots at the Top 10, led by Spider-Man: No Way Home (569,541 admissions). But three Norwegian films that premiered in the fall, also secured a place among the 10 biggest hits of 2022.

Gunnar Vikene’s War Sailor (403,990 admissions) released by the new player Scandinavian Film Distribution/Ymer Media was the 4^th biggest film of the year, and the two Nordisk Film releases Teddy’s Christmas by Andrea Eckerbom (263,906) and Olsenbaden-siste skrik by Hallvard Bræn (240,901) ranked 7^th and 8^th respectively.

Also worth underlining is the presence in the Top 10 Norwegian films 2022 of two family films directed by the local king of animation Rasmus A. Sivertsen: When the Robbers Came to Cardamom Town, 5^th biggest local success after only two weeks on screens (161,726 admissions), and Just Super, ranked number 9 (109,897).

The top three Nordic non-Norwegian films in 2022 were:

• The Emigrants by Erik Poppe (58,117 admissions, SF Norge)
• All I Want for Christmas-The Magic Time Machine by Christian Dyekjær (31,450 admissions, Scandinavian Film Distribution/Ymer Media)
• Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund (30,479 admissions SF Norge)
  

The top two Norwegian documentaries in 2022 were musical biopics: Si ingenting by Rolv Lyssland Bjørø about rap artist Kamelen (30,586, Norsk Filmdistribusjon) and Vegg Vegg Vegg about the musical duo Karpe, directed by Tommy Gulliksen and Erik Treimann (20,437, Euforia).

January 2023 surge
Thanks largely to three audience-pullers released in December: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, Erik Skjoldbjærg’s WW2 epic Narvik and Rasmus A. Ivertsen’s When the Robbers Came to Cardamom Town, January 2023 admissions at 958,976 improved by 8.1% from 2019 at the same period and sold an extra 245,649 tickets compared to January 2022.

As of February 9, 2023, Walt Disney’s Avatar: The Way of Water (which has dominated the Norwegian Top 10 since December 14, 2022) has already made history as the biggest film earner ever in Norway, with over NOK 105 million grosses from 647,727 admissions.

Meanwhile the Norwegian WW2 drama Narvik has now outperformed last year’s biggest local theatrical success War Sailor - with 474,559 admissions so far, and it should rank among the biggest local films of the last five years, according to Nordisk Film Distribution.

At the same time, Skjoldbjærg’s event movie chartering the true battle of Narvik of 1940, has conquered the world via Netflix, as it ranked number 1 on the global streamer’s non-English language film list in its first week of release in more than 50 territories, after its January 23, 2023 launch.

According to producer Aage Aaberge who spoke to the Norwegian media outlet Dagsavisen, (CLICK HERE) Nordisk Film Production Norway secured an interesting distribution model, with a launch in just over half of Netflix’s 190 territories four weeks after the Norwegian theatrical release, and a Netflix premiere in Norway set for the fall 2023. A win-win situation for all players and for Norwegian film as a whole.

To see Norway 2022 - Admissions Charts: CLICK HERE.