In Finland, four local films were in the Top ten last weekend dominated by Niko and the Way to the Stars which increased its admissions by 41% from the previous weekend with 26,144 more tickets sold, reaching 69,806 admissions total after 10 days. "Never before has such an increase happened before, and this can be explained only by extremely good and enthusiastic word of mouth," said producer Hannu Tuomainen (Cinemaker). The film is playing n 69 screens for Nordisk Film.
At number five, the comedy The Subtenant playing on 52 screens added 7,521 admissions for a total of 157,734 and a fifth place, followed by The Novelist - another Nordisk Film offering - which now totals 70,239 admissions in three weeks. The family film Stormheart is keeping strong in its 11th week with a total of 95,905 admissions for Walt Disney Studios.
In Denmark, five local films were in the Top Ten, pumped up by the three same Danish kids movies. Sunshine Barry & The Disco Worms improved its figures (another 28,713 admissions for a total of 110,734) and changed second to third position with another animation title released by Nordisk, Journey to Saturn (342,382 admissions in four weeks). Meanwhile the top title Father of Four - Back Home (Scanbox) increased its performance and has now been seen by 320,308 Danes in four weeks. The fifth instalment of Anja & Victor (Nordisk) and the comedy Take the Trash (Scanbox) also upped their figures, reaching respectively 237,368 admissions in six weeks and 421,670 admissions in 10 weeks. According to the Danish Film Institute, as many as 3.6m Danes have bought a ticket for a Danish film since the beginning of the year, while they were 3.1m to do so for the whole year of 2007.
In Sweden, the same five Swedish titles made it in the Top chart last weekend, although all of them slightly dropped from their previous positions, starting with Rallybrudar which came second after Mamma Mia, with 28,870 admissions, for a total of 92,041 in ten days for SF. Patrick Age 1.5 added 17,150 viewers for a total of 237,397 tickets sold for SF. Mamma Moo & Crow (SF) was seventh with a total of 91,715 admissions in five weeks, followed by Arn-The Kingdom at Road's End (SF), with 527,666 admissions in nine weeks. Everlasting Moments kept its tenth place for Sandrew Metronome, selling an extra 5,186 tickets from 25 prints, for a total of 45,370.
For the second weekend in a row, the horror film Cold Prey 2 took the top of the chart in Norway with a total of 183,335 admissions for Nordisk Film. The animation film Mamma Moo & Crow lost only one seat (number five last weekend) and totals 18,834 admissions in 10 days. The poetic Through the Glass, Darkly marking the return of Liv Ullmann in a local production, had a disappointing start with 7,699 admissions from 41 screens for Nordisk and a seventh place at the Top Ten. Another quality film, Erik Poppe's Troubled Water lost ground from a fifth to eighth position and 65,554 admissions total in four weeks.
In Iceland, all the films dropped in cinema attendance last weekend, apart from Mamma Mia and the new openers, such as the US movie Max Payne (Sena) which took Reykjavik, Rotterdam's top position. Oskar Jonasson's comedy, also under Sena's banner, totals 17,818 admissions in three weeks from seven screens.
Source: Danish Film Institut/bio-tal, Filmweb rapportserver, Finnish Film Foundation, SMAIS and SF and Sandrew Metronome in Sweden.
"I think that sorrow is fun. I hope my next film will be more surprising than my previous films. I want to surprise the audience and also surprise myself."
Winner of the Nordic Council Film Prize 2008 speaking about his next project.