Set to open on December 25, The Jonsson Gang (Se Up för Jönssonligan) was lined up as SF Studios’ big Swedish Christmas movie, and one of Sweden’s potential biggest hits of the year.

The film which marks Alfredson’s return to Swedish-language filmmaking after his 2008 hit Let the Right One In, is produced by mainstream-oriented FLX. It is based on the all-time favourite comedy franchise Jönssonligan, with a strong cast including Henrik Dorsin (Triangle of Sadness), Hedda Stiernstedt (The Restaurant) and David Sundin (Taskmaster).

But new government restrictions to public gatherings of eight people maximum effective today until December 22, has forced most cinemas to close, and SF Studios to revise The Jonsson Gang’s release strategy.

In an open letter addressed to his fans, relayed yesterday by the local press, Tomas Alfredson has apologised about the change of plan. Stressing that the film has received ‘several millions’ of krona in public support, the director of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy said he felt ‘ashamed as a dog” to have to disappoint his audience.

Alfredson also mentioned that the film will now premiere on Christmas day on a streaming service - without naming it. “I think it’s shitty and unfair for all of you who have been looking forward to seeing this film,” he said, adding: “There must be another way to make this film available to ALL.”

According to SVT’s Kulturnyheterna, the VOD service in question is C More.

Asked to confirm, Pia Grünler, SF Studios’ Head of Theatrical Distribution told nordicfilmandtvnews.com: “With tougher restrictions being effective in Sweden from November 24, the majority of the cinemas [including the biggest cinema chain Filmstaden] are closing again. We do not know yet when they will re-open, so for most of our films which were planned to open from now until the end of the year, we must find new dates or new channels. We are looking into this right now, and nothing [regarding The Jonsson Gang’s release] is finalised at this point.”

Grünler goes on: “We are very proud to be co-producing The Jonsson Gang and were really looking forward to a big Christmas premiere this year in cinemas all over Sweden. But this is not possible now due to the new Covid-19 restrictions. We are still determined to do our best to make sure that The Jonsson Gang has the best chance to reach a broad and big audience which it really deserves. That is always our main focus with all our films, to reach out to the broadest audience possible, no matter what.”

Commenting on the film’s potential change of platform, Anna Serner, head of the Swedish Film Institute, told SVT’s Kulturnyheterna. “I understand that it is a great disappointment for Tomas Alfredson. The whole intention with the film has been to get a Christmas premiere, which is the biggest and finest you can get…. There is nothing in our funding guidelines that ties a film to a cinema premiere. This [potential VOD release] is a way to save the film and allow it to reach its audience as quickly as possible."

A similar ‘neutral’ distribution support is in place at Nordisk Film & TV Fond which has supported the film.

PREMIERE CHAOS
Besides The Jonsson Gang, other SF Studios’ Swedish films backed by the Fund, to be shifted to dates still to be determined include the animated films The Ape Star (Apstjärnan), initially set to open December 18, and Mamma Moo Finds Her Way Home (Mamma Moo hitta hem) set to open January 15, 2021.

Meanwhile Nordisk Film has also revised its releases, with Colin Nutley’s film A Wedding, Funeral & a Christening (Bröllop, Begravning och Dop), spin off of the TV series, postponed from its November 25 premiere to 2021, the new ‘Sune’ (‘The Andersson family’) franchise film Sune updrag Midsommar from December 4 to June 2021, and Peter Dalle’s feelgood movie Tills solen går upp, (Till the Sun Rises) from December 25 to 2021.

Among smaller distributors, Folkets Bio’s Head of Marketing Katrina Mathsson was still evaluating at press time whether to stick or not to November 27 for the release of the British film Rocks by Sarah Gavron, the company’s last premiere for 2020. “If all films are postponed, it will be very crowded in the cinemas when we are able to open again,” she noted. But then again, if there are no releases, the cinemas will close again,” she said. Some of Folkets Bio’s small cinemas in 19 cities have decided to close for a month from today, with a few considering staying open.

Nonstop Entertainment’s MD Jakob Abrahamsson was looking into TVOD for some of his cinema titles, a possible shift of other films to after December 22, while regretting the cut of current good theatrical runs such as the local horror film The Other Side.

Despite the eight-people limit, Abrahamsson was still planning to keep his historical arthouse Stockholm cinema ‘Capitol’ open, and to transform the cinema experience into an exclusive and memorable night out. “Even with furloughing, we have staff hours that we pay for, so we may as well stay open and offer a controlled and distanced experience for the people that are comfortable attending. We’ll also take the opportunity to do what we cannot on a normal day, namely start with proper dine-in cinema. The bistro menu will be served to the 8 people attending a film screening, with table cloth, wine glasses, cutlery and discreet table service."

Sweden’s second cinema chain Svenska Bio, owned by Peter Fornstam was also planning to stay open. “Every exhibitor has to make his/her own decision,” he said.

According to the latest official figures from November 20, Sweden had reported 6,406 deaths from coronavirus, up from 6,340 on November 19. There were 208,295 confirmed cases, up from 201,055 the previous day.