First on iTunes, Danish Father of Four follows up on box-office success

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

06/03/2012 - No 5 in the franchise, Danish director Claus Bjerre’s Father of Four - Back to Nature [trailer] was domestically released last year on October 6 by Scanbox Entertainment Denmark, to clock in 412,000 admissions as the local No 3 bestseller. Last month (February) it returned to the charts, now as Danish market leader on DVD and VOD.

”Trading more than 30,000 DVDs took the film to first place on the Danish sales list, and all month it has been No 1 in sales andrentals on YouSee and iTunes – the first Danish title ever to be distributed by iTunes,” explained Scanbox head of VOD Lars Henriksen.

“The procedure is somewhat complicated - iTunes does not negotiate with single production house, you must go through an Apple aggregator, and an Apple approved coding house. But when you’re on, you’re on,” added Henriksen, who was still waiting for final figures.

With a cast of Kaspar Kesje as Lille Per, Carla Mickelborg, Jacob Wilhjelm Poulsen, Kathrine Bremerskov Kaysen, Søren Bregendal, Niels Olsen and Jess Ingerslev – lead characters unchanged since the 2005 revival of the family series - Father of Four - Back to Nature is located in Sweden.

Between 1953-1961, Danish director Alice O’Fredericks helmed the eight original films adapted from Kaj Engholm’s cartoon (which ran in Danish papers until 1988). A 1971 attempt to reunite the screen family became a one-off.

In 2005, backed by Scandinavian distributor Scanbox, ASA Film Production producer Henrik Møller-Sørensen re-invented the franchise with the characters modelled on the Fredericks films; the first five instalments have each taken 300,000-500,000 admissions domestically.

Family life will continue: shot last year under Bjerre’s direction, Father of Four – At Sea has been scheduled for local premiere on October 4. A wedding is pending, and a training ship needs support in Bjerre, Anton C Bidstrup and Lars C Detlefsen’s screenplay.