Icelandic Cop Secret makes history at local B.O. - sells to multi-territories

According to distributor Thorvaldur Arnason, Samfilm managing director, the bad-ass parody posted Isk 15.9 million in its 3-day weekend, and over Isk 23 million for the first 5 days (as the film opened a Wednesday instead of a Friday).

Cop Secret superseded the previous opening record holder Jar City by Baltasar Kormákur, which grossed Isk15.8 million in 2006 for its three-first days on screens, although Jar City still holds the opening weekend admission record for an Icelandic film with 13,956.

Arnason said the release - delayed several months due to Covid 19 - was highly anticipated by Icelanders who “knew that they were getting something fresh and new from Icelandic filmmakers.”

The distributor said the film’s marketing campaign was built around the star status of goalkeeper/filmmaker Hannes Þór Halldórsson (known for having saved a penalty from Lionel Messi at the 2018 World Cup), and the key cast and crew, including actors Auðunn Blöndal, Egill Einarsson and Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson.

“This crew and cast have a very strong following on social media and they really got the word out there. We had a very big premiere live, with live feed on TV, plus a strong TV campaign. It also helped that we got really good reviews before our release, from festivals like Locarno and the London Film Festival to add to the excitement,” noted Arnason.

The head of Samfilm who represents Disney, Warner Bros and Paramount in Iceland, expects Cop Secret to be one of the top Icelandic grossers of the year (north of 50,000 admission and Isk 90 million in B.O) alongside No Time to Die, which has grossed Isk 24,268,054 after three weeks from 46,760 tickets sold.

“We couldn’t be happier with the results,” said producer Lilja Ósk Snorradóttir of Pegasus Pictures to nordicfilmandtvnews.com. “We’ve put a lot of efforts in getting the script right, and although we wanted to do something that resembles the big blockbusters of the 90es, like Lethal Weapon, we never tried to be anything else or more.”

Internationally, the film repped by Paris-based Alief, has sold to multi-territories including German-speaking countries (MFA+), Spain (Twelve Oaks Pictures), AT Entertainment in Japan, Creative Century Entertainment in Taiwan. Deals are being negotiated with leading North American, British, and Central European buyers including streaming platforms, according to Snorradóttir.

The film will next screen as opener of the Lübeck Nordic Film Days (November 3-7).

Snorradóttir said the team behind Cop Secret is preparing a new feature project and TV series.

Pegasus Pictures is also attached to the directorial debut of Ninna Pálmadóttir, graduate from New York’s Tisch School of the Arts and Runar Rúnarsson’s next project after Echo, last year’s Icelandic entry for the Nordic Council Film Prize.

Meanwhile cinema-going in Iceland is fully back on track post-pandemic and the excellent results of the US tentpoles Dune, No Time to Die on top of Cop Secret, have lifted this month to the biggest October in Icelandic cinema history, said veteran distributor Arnason.