Supported by rave reviews, A Funny Man (Dirch) is now the record breaking opener of 2011. The biopic of the beloved Danish comedian Dirch Passer attracted over 67,000 cinemagoers and had twice the screen average of Sony Pictures' new release The Smurfs. The last Danish film to have a record opening weekend was Clown-The Movie (140,302 admissions), late 2010.
In Norway, the much anticipated Headhunters based on Jo Nesbø's best-selling novel sold over 104,000 tickets, almost 10,000 more than the first Millennium film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. "The opening results are great. It's the second best opening ever for a Norwegian film," boasted Friland Film's Christian Fredrik Martin. The biggest Norwegian opener remains Max Manus with 134,000 admissions.
Jannicke Systad Jacobsen's Tribeca hit Turn Me On, Goddammit continued its splendid screen life with over 73,000 tickets sold in two weeks for Norsk Filmdistribusjon. The clever teenager movie was number three last weekend, two ranks above Coming Home (Til siste hinder), a new Norwegian teen movie which sold over 8,800 tickets in its first weekend for Star Media Entertainment.
Sweden had two local films in the Top Ten last weekend: the chiller Gone (Försvunnen) that opened number four for Walt Disney, with over 13,000 tickets sold from 95 screens, and Anders Grönros' I Miss You number five with over 38,000 admissions total in its second weekend for Nordisk Film.
In Finland, the local thriller Vares-Garter Snake - third film based on Reijo Mäki's crime novels - was still number six at the local Top ten after a month on general release via Nordisk Film. Total tickets sold so far for the Solar Films production are nearing 70,000.