Nordic box office report: Local films thrive, but admissions overall stay stagnant

Exhibitors are showing contrasting emotions. Some, for example the Association of Film Distributors in Denmark (FAFID) and Danish Cinemas (DB), regarded 2025 as a “transitional year”, with the industry still recovering from the Hollywood strikes and the long after-effect of the Covid years. They point to the strength of the 2026 release slate as evidence that admissions will again rise. Others are more downbeat, accepting there may have been a long-term change in cinemagoing habits.

The potential loss of Warner Bros remains an obvious source of concern. If the studio is swallowed up by Netflix, that could mean a huge dent in ticket sales. Warner Bros last year generated $4.4 bn in global box office revenue.

Denmark saw cinemagoing visits rise 4.5% on the 2024 figures, reaching 10,249,930 in 2024, up from 9.8 mn in 2023. This spike was largely accounted for by local fare, with a Danish market share at 37% in 2025, up 13% on the previous year. There were six Danish titles in the year’s top10, ranging from the kids’ animated film Checkered Ninja 3 (Ternet Ninja 3), which had 777,000 admissions, to Anders Thomas Jensen’s dark family comedy-drama The Last Viking (Den sidste viking), which had around 724,000 admissions. This suggests that every demographic, from kids to older adults, still has an appetite for cinema. 39 Danish titles were released last year, up from 19 in 2024.

The consensus among Danish industry observers is that the box office figures would have been even higher if there had been the usual number of hit Hollywood blockbusters.

It was a strong year, but concerns remain. Ticket prices continue to inch upward. Average admission cost DKK 103.3 in 2025 - equivalent to €13.8 - and up 5% compared to 2024. Further rises could deter cinemagoers.

Analysts expect admissions in Denmark in 2026 to remain roughly the same as in 2025 - but with a slightly less robust performance from Danish films.

In Norway, admissions also rose slightly. They were at 8,375,266 , an increase of 2.49% compared to 2024 (8,172,183). Norwegian films racked up 2,623,972 admissions, a healthy increase on 2024 (2,026,886). This represents a 31% local market share, regarded by local analysts as “a very high” figure, even if overall admissions lag a long way behind the 13.3 million achieved in 2016.

The top film of the year was the Norwegian family comedy A Mouse Hunt for Christmas (Hvis ingen går i fella), with 450,941 admissions. Mouse Hunt out-performed all the biggest Hollywood competitors.

Norwegian exhibitors benefitted from yet another successful Second World War film: The Battle Of Oslo (Blücher), about the sinking of a Nazi warship, was a top 5 hit, with 376,679 admissions.

Also in the top 5 was another Norwegian title: Rally from Paris to the Pyramids (Flåklypa: Fra Paris til pyramidene), which had 272,176 admissions. Its success underlined the continuing popularity of family fare in the Norwegian market.

Meanwhile, Joachim Trier’s awards contender Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi) did robust business, with admissions of around 250,000.

There aren’t the same number of local films set for release during 2026. The Norwegian market share is therefore expected to decrease, but it’s hoped that Hollywood tentpoles will perform better and make up for the shortfall in admissions and revenues.

Full box office figures for Sweden won’t be available until next month. However, Peter Fornstam, Svenska Bio, Chairman of the Swedish Cinema Owners’ Association, confirmed that admissions are expected to be at around 9.8 million, slightly down on the 10.3 million admissions achieved in 2024 (itself considered a disappointing result, given that less than a decade ago, admissions were at 17 million).

The Swedish local market share fell sharply in 2025. down to an estimated 11.8%, a big drop on 2024, when it was at 22%. The highest figure in almost a decade.

“It’s not because people didn’t see the Swedish films. There were no Swedish films.” Fornstam said the decrease has more to do with supply issues than with audiences turning away from local fare. When Swedish films like Hannes Holm’s Let It Rain (Regnmannen) were released late in the year, they did strong business.

Striking a bullishly optimistic note, Fornstam also noted that 2026 had started very strongly. He anticipates that a stronger Hollywood slate should help admissions rise in 2026. “I’m pretty optimistic, yes.”

Torkel Stål, analyst at the Swedish Film Institute, acknowledged that the lower Swedish market share was in line with expectations. “The main reason behind this trend is a lower number of Swedish releases in 2025, especially during the first eight months of the year. In total, the number of fiction feature films decreased from 24 to 20. Only eight of these films were released during the first eight months, out of which only four had production funding from the Swedish Film Institute. The low production volume in Swedish fiction film is explained by the fact that the government grant to film is lower here compared to other Nordic countries.”

Admissions in Finland dropped slightly in 2025, to 6.3 million, down from 6.8 million in 2024. Box office revenues dropped to €85.8 million, down from €89.5 million (a 4% slip). However, the local market share stayed at around 32%, the same as last year. There was no single runaway success to match Tiina Lymi’s Stormskerry Maja (Stormskärs-Maja), the number one hit from 2024, but more local films were released. Seven of the ten most watched films were local. The top Finnish title of 2025 was Teemu Nikki’s bawdy, dark rural comedy 100 Litres of Gold (100 litraa sahtia), with 235,060 admissions.

Also performing well was Cancel, a comedy featuring a host of popular YouTube and social media stars. This had 166,982 admissions and turned into a surprise hit, attracting young audiences who aren’t regular cinemagoers.

Local films again topped the symbolically important two million admissions mark.

Over the last 30 years, non-Finnish films have generally been responsible for around 6.7 million admissions, but in 2024 and 2025, that figure fell to 4.6 million and 4.3 million. That is a significant drop. Another worry has been the seasonal nature of cinemagoing. In particular, the huge drop in attendance during July, when neither local titles nor Hollywood fare made any headway. Analysts cite Finland’s high current unemployment rate, statistically the worst in the EU, as a potential threat to cinemagoing levels in the future.

According to one analyst, 2025 was the worst year for cinema attendances for local films in Iceland since 2013. “There’s no hit film this year,” said filmmaker Ásgrímur Sverrisson.

Hlynur Pálmasson’s festival success with family drama The Love That Remains (Ástin Sem Eftir Er) didn’t translate into ticket sales. Following the film’s Cannes premiere, it grossed around $130,000 in Icelandic cinemas.

Local producers are more focused on making TV dramas than feature films, one reason why the figures are falling. However, with several new films due to shoot in 2026, the market share should rise again in 2027.

A few Nordic films, among them Norwegian festival hits like Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and Dag Johan Haugerud’s Sex-Love-Dreams (Sex, Drømmer, Kjærlighet) trilogy, and various animated and family films, travelled successfully across Nordic borders. These films are top-financed by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Other supported films are The Last Viking, A Mouse Hunt For Christmas, Rally From Paris To The Pyramids, Stormskerry Maja, Let it Rain, and The Love That Remains .