A record year for Denmark’s cinemas

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

13/01/2016 - There were 14.2 million admissions in theatres in 2015 – up 14.9% on the previous year and the second-best result since 1982; a local market share of 29.3% was also racked up

Klown Forever by Mikkel Nørgaard

In 2015, Danish cinemas registered 14,175,525 admissions – up 14.9% on the previous year and the second-best result since 1982. Total box-office takings reached €160.8 million, more than ever before. Furthermore, local films sold 4.2 million tickets, up 28% from 2014, to secure a domestic market share of 29.3%.

Ten Danish features took more than 200,000 admissions, but still only three local titles – Mikkel Nørgaard’s Klown Forever [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Anders Thomas Jensen’s Men & Chicken [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Niels Nørløv’s My Canadian Adventure: The Quest for the Lost Gold [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – qualified for the year’s top ten, which they used to dominate. US blockbusters seem to have taken over, including JJ Abrams’ Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which took the number-two spot after only two weeks of release.

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“At a time when the home-entertainment sector cannot compensate the film industry for the income lost from DVDs, it is good news that the cinemas – also through huge investments – can increase their audiences,” said Kim Pedersen, chairman of trade association Danish Cinemas.

In 2015, two large multiplexes opened in the Copenhagen region – Ørestaden and Herlev, with CinemaxX adding a new IMAX theatre as well – and this year will see new cinemas open in provincial Køge, Aalborg and Frederikssund.

“As distributors, we are proud of the increasing number of admissions – the result of better cinemas and films with huge audience appeal. We have also seen the return of the American film industry, which is in great shape, with several crowd-pleasers,” added Mads Nedergaard, chairman of the Danish Distributors' Association.

Here is the list of Denmark’s top ten films of 2015: Spectre [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] (897,834 admissions), Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens (530,706 admissions), Klown Forever (512,056 admissions), Inside Out (495,697 admissions), Jurassic World (471,294 admissions), Minions (456,182 admissions), Fifty Shades of Grey (387,558 admissions), Fast & Furious 7 (371,828 admissions), Men & Chicken (359,278 admissions), My Canadian Adventure – The Quest for the Lost Gold (324,765 admissions).