The film starring Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas marks the biggest Danish live-action opening since 2018, with a total of over 127,000 admissions

The Last Viking by Anders Thomas Jensen

Anders Thomas Jensen’s latest feature, The Last Viking [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anders Thomas Jensen
film profile], has stormed Danish cinemas with a record-breaking opening weekend. The film sold 127,242 tickets during its bow, reaching a total of 156,926 admissions, including pre-screenings. This marks Jensen’s best-ever domestic opening and the strongest premiere for a Danish live-action film since 2018, when the final instalment in the Department Q franchise, The Purity of Vengeance [+see also:
trailer
interview: Elliott Crosset Hove
film profile] by Christoffer Boe, topped the box office.

The comedy-drama, led by Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas, opened on 9 October through Nordisk Film Distribution. It has already surpassed the opening of Jensen’s previous success Riders of Justice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anders Thomas Jensen
film profile] – also starring Mikkelsen and Lie Kaas – which garnered 125,932 admissions. It also represents Mikkelsen’s best-ever opening for a Danish production. His previous record was Riders of Justice, followed by Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
film profile] in 2012, which sold 119,349 tickets.

According to Nordisk Film Distribution’s marketing director, Cille Kruuse Neumann, “We had high expectations, but this result completely exceeds anything we could have hoped for. Even competing against two important World Cup-qualifying football matches, the film has performed beyond expectations. It’s clear that the movie has become a cultural event that many Danes want to experience. We believe it will benefit from excellent word of mouth and continue to perform strongly in cinemas over the coming weeks, heading towards an exceptional box-office run.”

Written and directed by Jensen, The Last Viking premiered at the Venice Film Festival and went on to screen in the Centrepiece section of the Toronto International Film Festival. It is Jensen’s sixth directorial feature and follows Anker, a loner released after 15 years in prison for robbery, who teams up with his mentally impaired brother Manfred to recover hidden loot and confront their past.

Lie Kaas and Mikkelsen star as Anker and Manfred, respectively, and Sofie Gråbøl returns to Jensen’s films for the first time since Flickering Lights. The cast also includes regular collaborators such as Lars Brygmann, Bodil Jørgensen, Søren Malling, Nicolas Bro and Lars Ranthe, alongside newcomers such as Swedish actor Kardo Razzazi and drummer Peter Düring. With over two million tickets sold across his directorial features and more than six million for the films he has written, Jensen stands among the most successful Danish filmmakers of his generation.

The Last Viking was produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen and Sidsel Hybschmann for Zentropa Entertainments, in co-production with Zentropa Sweden and Film i Väst, with support from the Danish Film Institute, FilmFyn, the Swedish Film Institute, the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Eurimages and the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme. The film is released domestically by Nordisk Film Distribution, with international sales handled by TrustNordisk, in collaboration with TV 2 Denmark. The film has already been sold to 63 territories worldwide, including major markets such as the USA (through Samuel Goldwyn Films), Spain, Germany, Italy, the Benelux and Japan.