In their first nationwide releases, the Swedish thriller Easy Money (Snabba Cash) by Daniel Espinosa and Backwood Philosopher (Havukka-ahon ajattelija) by Kari Väänänen pushed US blockbuster Avatar down from its top position in the Swedish and Finnish top ten last weekend. Both films are Nordisk Film releases.

Carried by rave reviews in the local press (four out of five stars in all major newspapers), Easy Money had a startling opening, with 113,275 admissions from 125 screens. "The box office is far higher than we had expected," commented producer Fredrik Wikström (Tre Vänner). "We had the same opening figures as the third Stieg Larsson film, even though it had 40 % more screens." The first Swedish thriller exploring Stockholm's underground world, was supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Two other Swedish films were in the top ten. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest was number five (683,890 total admissions), and the comedy Göta Kanal 3 (SF) number seven (262,673 total admissions).

In Finland, Backwood Philosopher went nationwide after its platform release late December in Eastern Finland's Kainuu region where the story is set. Kai Lehtinen, Tommi Korpela and Hannu-Pekka Björkman play three guys who start a journey through the woods that turns into a discovery about science, history and human nature. The film produced by MatilaRöhr/Nordisk has sold almost 36,000 tickets in total from 55 screens. Two other Finnish films were in the top ten: Neil Hardwick's If You Love was number three (42,336 total admissions) and Under the North Star by Timo Koivusalo was number 6 (total 141,041 admissions). The Swedish hit The Girl Who Kicked was number seven.

In Norway, two local films are clocking in significant admissions. The gangster comedy Tomme Tønner by Leon Bashir and Sebastian Dalén was number three last weekend (total 61,188 admissions for Euforia) and the children animation film Pelle politibil går i vannet was number five (total 63,104 admissions for Nordisk Film). Again, the Swedish hit The Girl Who Kicked stayed in the Top ten with almost 300,000 total admissions.

In Iceland, two local films are bringing much needed laughs and heart-warming feelings to local audiences who continue to favour them among all national releases. Ragnar Bragason's comedy drama Mr. Bjarnfredarson was number three after four weeks, with a record 57,395 admissions from seven prints for Samfilm. Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's Mamma Gógó kept its fourth place for Sena with 11,800 admissions in three weeks.

Denmark had one local film in the top ten: Old Boys by Nikolaj Steen. The Nordisk Film production was seen by over 46,000 Danes in four weeks.