Unlike 2017 that lacked Norwegian blockbusters, two local films released by Nordisk Film Distribution took the first two spots at the Norwegian Top 10 the first quarter of the year, according to Film & Kino.

Released on December 25, 2017, Harald Zwart’s The 12th Man featuring the local resistance hero Jan Baalsrud, took a comfortable first place with 422,921 admissions between January 1st - March 31st 2018, followed by Arild Fröhlich’s comedy Opportunity Knocks with 242,161 admissions. After the Disney tentpoles Black Panther (241,766), Coco (231,317) and UIP’s Fifty Shades Freed (212,660), Erik Poppe’s drama U-July 22 was number 6 with 191,936 admissions in three weeks.

Poppe’s documentary Per Fugelli-I Die about the iconic Norwegian physician, filmed until his final moments, was the fourth most successful local release with 77,726 admissions. The two Poppe films were distributed by Nordisk Film.

Guttorm Petterson, Head of Film & Kino said: “We have to go back to 2009 and Max Manus to find a higher first quarter for Norwegian films.”
The rest of the year looks promising with more than 17 local films lined up, including the mainstream titles Battle by Katarin Launing, Louis & Lucas-Mission to the Moon by Rasmus A. Sivertsen, The Quake by John Andreas Andersen, Congo by Marius Holst, Mortal by André Øvredal and Sonja-The White Swan by Anne Sewitsky.