ADMISSIONS Denmark
Danish films control 28% of best market in 30 years
by Jorn Rossing Jensen
08/01/2013 - In 2012, three Danish features sold more than 500,000 tickets – which last happened in 1986 – and with a little help from James Bond, Batman and The Hobbit they were the main attractions to pull 14.2 million Danes into the theatres, the best result in 30 years.
Danish directors Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis’ This Life [trailer], from Regner Grasten Film, Susanne Bier’s Love Is All You Need [trailer]and Nikolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair [trailer, film focus] from Zentropa Entertainments spearheaded the 21 local releases, which sold 4.1 million tickets to control 28% of the market – second only to 2008 during the period.
From abroad UK directors Sam Mendes’ Skyfall [trailer], Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises [trailer] and New Zealand director Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey contributed to the success – launched on December 12, The Hobbit exceeded 423,000 admissions in 16 days for SF Film.
“With Skyfall,we wanted to beat the legendary record for a Bond movie set by Octopussy, which reached an audience of 707,000 in 1983. Taking more than 900,000 admissions, it also became best performer at the 2012 box office,” said head of distribution Sune Lind Thomsen, of SF Film.
It was also “another good year for Danish films on the international scene,” according to the Danish Film Institute, which listed a harvest of 82 prizes from 272 festival participations, including three in Cannes (for Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt), two in Berlin (A Royal Affair) and two in Sundance (Mads Matthiesen’s Teddy Bear [trailer], Lise Birk Pedersen’s Putin’s Kiss).
Danish 2012 Top Five/Local Films: 1 This Life. Dir: Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis – 764,516 admissions. 2 Love Is All You Need. Dir: Susanne Bier – 644,255 adms. 3 A Royal Affair. Dir: Nikolaj Arcel – 528,425 adms. 4 Father of Four – At Sea. Dir: Claus Bjerre – 409,945 adms. 5 My Sisters Kids Home Alone. Dir: Martin Miehe-Renard – 310,556 admissions.
