WRITTEN BY: Annika Pham
In a rather sluggish theatrical market currently dominated by the US fare Killers of the Flower Moon, Trolls 3, Paw Patrol 2, a wide range of local films are holding on to their slice of the audience.
In Denmark, Nikolaj Arcel’s The Promised Land released by Nordisk Film had to give up the number 1 spot kept the last two weeks, to the UIP family films Trolls 3 and Paw Patrol 2, as kids have been spending some of their fall holiday time in local cinemas. But Mads Mikkelsen’s epic is still holding on strongly across 115 Danish screens and has sold so far nearly 140,000 tickets, making it the 6th biggest Danish film of 2023.
Two other local films under the Nordisk Film banner secured a place in the Top 10: the WW2 drama Before it Ends by Anders Walter watched by 277,707 people after 9 weeks, and the animated satire about integration Shabholm from the Gigis collective, which sold nearly 70,000 tickets
In Finland Aki Kaurismäki’s award-winning Fallen Leaves is now the legendary director’s biggest hit on local screens, with 175,000 admissions via B-Plan. Last weekend the film dropped only 16% and was still number 5 after 6 weeks on screens.
Arto Halonen’s family film Arnold Cautious and the Happiness Stone is also a popular counter-US offering and ranked number 4 in its second weekend, with a total of 32,566 admissions for Nordisk Film.
Meanwhile Toni Kurkimäki’s story of love and resilience Lapua 1976 shows strong B.O. legs as it dropped only 18% in its 8th week, and ranked number 6 with an extra 3,641 admissions from 71 screens. So far, the Finnkino release has sold 147,801 tickets.
The new local film Je'Vida opened at number 13 for Future Film, attracting 1,710 cinemagoers.
In Iceland, the local chiller Cold by Erlingur Thoroddsen is performing very strongly via Max Dreifing and took the third place at the Icelandic Top 10, dropping only 7% week on week, despite its 8th week on screens. More than 27,000 have watched the film, based on crime novelist Yrsa Sigurðardóttir's best-selling book
Another Max Dreifing release - Northern Comfort - ranked number 12 after six weeks. Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson’s English-language debut has sold so far 5,139 tickets.
Solitude is another local film in the Top 20. Made by newcomer Ninna Pálmadóttir the film has attracted 1,217 filmgoers in 4 weeks through Samfilm.
In Norway, no less than 4 local films were in the local Top 10 last weekend.
The family film Lars is Lol by first-time director Eirik Sæter Stordahl kept its 4th place after 4 weeks on screens via Nordisk Film. The film about overcoming prejudice, in which a school girl becomes friend to the new classmate with Down syndrome Lars, has received rave reviews in the local media. So far 94,308 people have seen it in Norwegian cinemas.
In its 3rd week, Nils Gaup’s epic The Riot dropped from 2nd to 5th place but still added 7,742 tickets to reach a total tally of 109,044 for SF Studios.
Meanwhile Margreth Olin’s Songs of Earth under Norsk Filmdistribusjon's banner, keeps going strongly and is now the biggest documentary film in more than five years, with 81,171 admissions.
Another Norwegian film showing solid B.O. legs is Kaveh Tehrani‘s feelgood Listen Up! which slightly increased its intakes (+2%) in its 6th week, despite a 9% drop in screen visibility. So far the Arthaus release has attracted 52,164 moviegoers.
The new opener A Happy Day by Hisham Zaman opened at number 16, with 973 admissions from 17 screens for Ymer Media/Scandinavian Film Distribution.
In Sweden, half of the best-selling films in the Top 10 last weekend were Nordic, including two new local entries. The family film Nelly Rapp -The Secret of the Black Forest which won the CineKindl Award at the last Munich Film Festival entered the Top 10 at number 2 after UIP/Universal’s animated film Trolls 3. The Swedish kids franchise released by SF Studios sold nearly 30,000 tickets from 196 screens.
Ahead of Halloween, the horror film Carousel starring Omar Rudberg and Wilma Lidén started off with 12,212 admissions from 147 screens, and a fourth place at the Top 10 for Nordisk Film.
Lukas Moodysson’s Together 99 dropped 45% in its second weekend, as its screen visibility was cut drastically from 252 to 141 screens week on week. So far 42,593 people have watched the director’s follow up to his 2000 hit Together.
Carried by strong reviews, Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves ranked number 6 for Folkets Bio and added 4,601 admissions from 61 screens, to reach 17,445 after two weeks.
At number 10, the first Swedish large-scale disaster movie The Abyss by Richard Holm, sold an extra 2,255 tickets from 59 screens to reach a total tally of 82,857 after six weeks for SF Studios.
Commenting on the current theatrical market in the Nordic region, Klaus Odegaard, Nordisk Film VP acquisitions and theatrical distribution said after a fantastic summer period driven by the phenomenal hits Barbie and Oppenheimer, the fall period is rather weak he said, with variants between the markets - Denmark and Norway doing the best and Sweden and Finland lagging behind. 2023 should therefore end up on par with 2023, he reckoned.
Sources: FAFID, Danish Film Institute, Nordisk Film Distribution, FRÍSK, Finnish Film Foundation, Filmikamari, Norske Filmbyråers Forening, Film & Kino, Filmweb.no, Filmägarnas Kontrollbyrå.
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