WRITTEN BY: Annika Pham
All I Want for Christmas 3, Jingle Bells, Teddy’s Christmas and Long Live the Bonus Family are N°1 respectively in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
In the run-up to Christmas, local films tailor-made for the festive period are bringing much needed bums on seats across the Nordics.
In Denmark, the biggest hit last weekend was the Danish family film All I Want for Christmas 3-The Magic Time Machine by Christian Dyekjær released by Ymer media on behalf of Scanbox. The film upped its intake by 61% in its fourth week on release, adding 16,534 admissions from 120 screens, to reach 58,557.
The film pushed down to second place the other local feelgood movie Fathers & Mothers by Paprika Steen, which had dominated the charts the last four weeks. The comedy has now sold 304,505 tickets, making it the 3rd biggest Danish films of 2022 after Bamse-A Lucky Man by Henrik Ruben Genz (478,930) and Rose by Niels Arden Oplev (363,459).
The local animated film Mugge & Hans Mærkelige Hjerne by Anders Morgenthaler and Mikael Wulff, based on the Wulffmorgenthalers’s eponymous children’s book, is holding on to its market and sold an extra 1,751 tickets in its 8th week, securing a 7th place at the top 10. So far 115,961 parents and their small kids have watched the film.
Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness shows great box office legs in Denmark, and even climbed from 10th to 9th place after 11 weeks on screens via SF Studios. Total admissions for the Palme d'or winner have reached 94,615.
Meanwhile Hlynur Palmason’s Danish/Iceland Godland opened last weekend at number 13 via Scanbox, selling 1,479 tickets from 24 screens.
According to the Danish Film Institute, so far 2,898,891 tickets have been sold for Danish films in 2022, which is slightly higher than last year at the same period (2,808,693). Another two Danish films are yet to open: the fertility drama Baby Pyramid by Cecilie McNair (December 8, Nordisk Film) and the romantic comedy Love You for Now by Julie Rudbæk and Jesper Zuschlag (December 22, SF Studios).
In Finland, the Christmas comedy Jingle Bells upped its admissions by 5% in its sixth week on screens via Nordisk Film, and climbed back to number 1, pushing down to number 2 Disney’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which topped the charts the last three weeks. Taru Mäkelä’s film about two diverse families meeting for the first time over a Christmas dinner, has sold 53,911 tickets.
No less than four other Finnish films secured a place in the Top 10 last weekend.
Aurora Studios’ Bubble directed by Aleksi Salmenperä came in at number 6 in its 2nd weekend, selling an extra 2,247 tickets from 103 screens. Total tally stands at 9,631.
At number 7 was the broad comedy Witness the Fitness by Aleksi Delikouras, watched by a total of 64,336 people after seven weeks on screens via SF Studios. The 8th biggest hit was the family film Super Furball Saves the World by Joona Tena, sequel to his 2018 film, which has now sold over 117,355 tickets after eight weeks.
At number 10 was Aleksi Mäkelä’s latest comedy Kummeli esittää: Kontio & Parmas, which has attracted 40,549 cinema-goers after five weeks on screens via Finnkino/Nelonen.
Another local film delivering solid numbers is Klaus Härö’s first English-language feature My Sailor, My Love, watched by 104,451 people after 10 weeks.
Meanwhile among the new openers, the Swedish family franchise Jerrymaya’s detective Agency-The Riddle of the Scorpion entered the top 10 at number 5, selling 3,112 tickets from 77 screens for SF Studios.
For the moment the local market share for Finnish films stands at 26.4% from 5.27 million admissions according to the Finnish Film Foundation. The biggest local film is the Nordisk Film release The Grump-The Search of an Escort by Mika Kaurismäki, with 185,896 admissions.
Upcoming local releases include Hyväveli by Sami Laitinen (December 9, Aurora Studios), Lapland Odyssey 4 by Juha Wuolijoki (December 23, SF Studios) and The Hullabaloos! By Reetta Huhtanen (December 28, Nordisk Film).
In Iceland, the local children’s film 12 Hours to Destruction by Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir continues its splendid career on screens. As many as 12,100 people have watched the musical film after 12 weeks on screens via Sena. The film was ranked number 10 last weekend, just above Summerlight and then Comes the Night by Elfar Aðalsteins, which totals 4,075 admissions for Sena after eight weeks.
Another local film which has performed strongly this year is A Letter from Helga by Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir, still playing at number 16 after 14 weeks on screens via Sena. Nearly 10,000 filmgoers have watched the romantic drama starring Hera Hilmarsdóttir.
Meanwhile Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness which ranked number 7 last weekend, has just passed 7,000 admissions after eight weeks on screens via Bío Paradís. The next Icelandic film to open domestically is the drama Wild Game by Elsa María Jakobsdóttir (January 6, 2023).
In Norway, the local Christmas movie Teddy’s Christmas by Andrea Eckerbom reigns at number 1 and confirms the strong connection of local crowds with Alf Prøysen’s universe. After four weeks, the Christmas tale has enchanted nearly 180,000 Norwegians.
Also performing strongly is the Danish film All I Want for Christmas 3, which has increased its admissions by 10% week on week and kept its 5th position at the top 10 last weekend. The Scandinavian Film Distribution release has sold 18,538 tickets after three weeks. The new player on the Norwegian distribution market is also enjoying the excellent results of the local WW2 drama by Gunnar Vikene, War Sailor, fourth biggest film of the year with 391,359 admissions after 11 weeks. Last weekend the local blockbuster ranked number 7, just above the re-release of Cecilie Mosli’s Three Wishes for Cinderella, second biggest film of 2021. The family film has now sold a record 603,616 tickets in total.
In an overall sluggish market, with admissions down nearly 30% from 2022 in November compared to 2018-19 at the same period, local fare is a key magnet to attract filmgoers and according to Film & Kino, Norwegian films secured 50% of the market for each of the past three months.
Two major Norwegian films - both set to open on Christmas day through Nordisk Film- should significantly boost the local films’ market share: the animated film Three Robbers and a Lion by top box office habitué Rasmus A. Sivertsen, and the long-awaited WW2 drama Narvik by Erik Skoldbjærg.
In Sweden, no less than four local films were in the top 10 last weekend.
The regular champion of the box office Felix Herngren is - unsurprisingly- number 1 with Long Live the Bonus Family, feature spin-off of the hit series The Bonus Family. The SF Studios release opened last weekend straight at the top with 68,967 admissions including previews.
In 5th place was the family franchise JerryMaya’s Detective Agency-The Riddle of the Scorpion by Tina Mackic, which sold an extra 4,338 tickets from 106 screens. After six weeks on screens, the SF Studios film has sold 177,605 tickets.
At number 6 was this year’s Swedish Oscar entry and Cannes Best Script winner Boy from Heaven by Tarik Saleh. The drama shot in Arabic has sold 30,549 tickets after three weeks on screens, courtesy of TriArt
Cannes’s other Swedish film champion Triangle of Sadness released by SF Studios, is slowly adding numbers. Östlund’s satire about the mega rich has attracted 132,370 people after nine weeks.
Meanwhile two noteworthy local achievers are the small budget horror Feed by Johannes Persson, which has sold 112,206 tickets after six weeks for Nordisk Film, and the Viaplay Original movie Hilma by Lasse Hallström, watched by nearly 50,000 Swedes on the silver screens via Scanbox.
Finally also worth highlighting among the new US openers in the Nordics is the Christmas themed Violent Night by Norwegian genre specialist Tommy Wirkola, which opened last weekend at number 6 in Denmark, number 3 in Finland, number 1 in Iceland, number 2 in Norway and number 4 in Sweden through UIP/Universal. Perhaps the start for a new Studios franchise about the Die Hard meets Home Alone movie for the Norwegian director.
Sources: Sources: FAFID, Danish Film Institute, FRÍSK, Icelandic Film Centre, Finnish Film Foundation, Norske Filmbyråers Forening, Filmweb.no, Film & Kino, Filmägarnas Kontrollbyrå.
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