Film starts roll-out September 8th in Sweden and Norway. Different positioning approaches between Nordic and International.

Launched on Friday September 8th on more than 200 Swedish screens and 60 Norwegian screens, Janus Metz’s event movie has benefitted from a well-oiled marketing campaign from Nordisk Film and an exceptional PR and media exposure. The media hype culminated on Monday with a gala premiere in Stockholm attended by hundreds of VIPs including the Swedish tennis legend himself Björn Borg. Other personalities who walked on the red carpet comprise Borg’s ex wife Mariana Simionescu - played in the film by Tuva Novotny - and the entire cast and crew including Shia LaBeouf (aka John McEnroe), Sverrir Gudnason (Björn Borg), Stellan Skarsgård (Borg’s coach Lennart Bergelin), and director Janus Metz.

The event was relayed live on television and social media and ended a major press junket the same day with Swedish, French, German and Nordic media. The press junket was a key part of Borg vs McEnroe’s launch campaign orchestrated by Nordisk Film together with the film’s production company SF Studios, to create a buzz and want to see on one of the hottest films of the year.

Playing on Borg's name in Nordic region
To appeal to a widest possible audience, Nordisk Film and SF Studios decided to position the film in Scandinavia as an intense drama between two larger-than-life personalities, rock stars of the time, who happened to be tennis champions. “The film is about how legends were born at a time when everything was possible, much more than the story of the famous 1980 Wimbledon final” explained Klaus Odegaard, Nordic Marketing Director at Nordisk Film. With the same goal of attracting the most frequent cinemagoers - the young adults, besides the primary 35+ audience, as well as non-tennis aficionados, Nordisk Film focused the campaign on Björn Borg, the iconic Swedish legend. The title of the film in Scandinavia is therefore BORG. For the poster, the marketing team opted for a visual comprising Stellan Skarsgård and Tuva Novotny, next to the main stars Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf. 


Scandinavian vs International
Odegaard said the Scandinavian campaign and positioning of the film is somewhat different from the international strategy put together by SF Sales (handling international sales outside the Nordics), which focused on the iconic Wimbledon match itself and the rivalry between Borg & McEnroe, hence the title of the film for the international market BORG VS MCENROE. The visual for the international market also focuses exclusively on the two tennis legends and their screen alter egos Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf.


The advertising campaign in Sweden has been multifaceted and comprises outdoor and online as the primary pillar to create both a visual impact nationwide as well as target audiences via online and social media channels.

To build the word of mouth and awareness, Nordisk Film and SF Studios did a tie-in with Björn Borg’s fashion brand that launched a new collection on September 1st the exclusive sportswear collection ‘Signature’ in an updated vintage style inspired by the film. At press time, the first Swedish reviews were out and Odegaard was very pleased with 4 out of 5 stars in the broadsheet Aftonbladet, Expressen and in SVT’s Kulturnyheterna.

As for Björn Borg, asked by Reuters what he thought about the film after Monday gala screening, he said: “I think the actors did a great job. It’s strange to see yourself on the screen, but I’m really happy with the movie!”

The film opens in Denmark on September 14, to allow Janus Metz to promote the film on home turf, after his Toronto trip, and the Finnish release is set for October. Sena will launch the film in Iceland on October 6, after a platform screening at the Reykjavik International Film Festival later this month.

 TO SEE MORE ABOUT THE FAMOUS MATCH - SEE THE UK'S DEDICATED WEBSITE FROM CURZON CINEMA (RELEASED SEPTEMBER 22) WITH CLIPS FROM THE TIE-BREAK: CLICK HERE.