Nordic films are thriving in their home territories and last weekend, in a rare occurrence, all territories had a local film dominating the charts, except Finland where Le Havre was number two. But even there, Aki Kaurismäki's humanistic drama has improved its results from its opening weekend (September 9-11), climbing from third to second place at the Top Ten.
Released by Future Film Distribution, the Finnish Oscar entry has attracted so far nearly 30,000 Finnish cinemagoers and has a long life ahead. The local youth film The Sixpack-movie (Pussikaljaelokuva) by debut director Ville Jankeri was number three last weekend in its third weekend, selling over 50,000 tickets from 44 screens for Nordisk Film. The comedy based on a novel by the Finlandia award-winner Mikko Rimminen had twice the screen average of Paramount's Cowboys & Aliens, released with a similar print run. A third Finnish production-Juuso Syrjä´s musical animation film Ella & Aleksi opened last weekend at number 10 for Nordisk Film.
In Denmark, Nikolaj Lie Kaas' acting tour de force in Dirch (A Funny Man) is still fascinating local crowds and keeping Martin P Zanvliet's film on top of the domestic chart for the fourth week in a row, with a screen average way above all other titles in the Top Ten. Total admissions so far are 345,385 for Nordisk Film. Released in Denmark simultaneously as in many world territories (including the US), Nicolaj Winding Refn's English language Drive opened at number three for FC/SF, pushing down to fourth place the distributor's musical youth film Bora Bora by Hans Fabian Wullenweber (53,915 admissions total).
In Iceland, the comedy film The Magic Wardrobe (Algjör Sveppi og töfraskápurinn) by Bragi Thor Hinriksson kept its top position at the domestic box office for the second weekend in a row, selling 18,704 tickets from 11 screens for Samfilm. The distributor also enjoyed the solid performance of Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive that came in second in its first weekend.
In Norway, Morten Tyldum's Headhunters showed no sign of weakness, keeping its top position for the fourth weekend in a row. The local blockbuster is now the third most successful film of the year in Norway after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows-Part 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: on Strange Tides with over 396,000 tickets sold for Nordisk Film. Headhunters is on Danish screens since yesterday and will reach Finnish screens on September 30.
Jens Lien's Sons of Norway didn't move from its third place in its second weekend, pushing its total score to over 47,000 admissions for Norsk Film Distribusjon. The distributor's other local title in the Top Ten, the Nordic Council Film Prize 2011 nominee Oslo, August 31st came in at number seven in its third week. Total admissions amount to 39,000.
The Swedish thriller Jägarna 2 (False Trail) opened for a fifth place for SF with 5,747 tickets sold last weekend, and Le Havre opened at number 15 for Arthaus (2,393 admissions).
In Sweden, Kjell Sundvall's thriller Jägarna 2 - (pictured) the sequel to its 1996 hit - which received very positive reviews in the Swedish press, has already sold over 232,000 tickets in its third weekend for SF and continues to rule over the local Top Ten. Ander Grönros' Jag Saknar dig (I Miss You) is holding on well on screens after five weeks on general release. The film was number eight last weekend and total admissions are now over 76,000 for Nordisk Film.
Sources: FAFID, Denmark, Norske Filmbyråers Forening, Norway, Filmägarnas Kontrollbyrå, Sweden, Filmikamari, Finland, SMAIS, Iceland.