19/11/2009

Dutch films have been doing extremely well at the local box office in the last couple of very rainy weeks, despite – or perhaps because of – an avalanche of newly released home-grown titles.

Looking to profit from the upcoming St. Nicholas (“Sinterklaas”) holiday on December 5 are Sinterklaas en de Verdwenen Pakjesboot [+see also:
trailer
film profile] from Sinterklaas film specialist Martijn van Nellestijn and Sinterklaasjournaal: De Meezingmoevie, a Sinterklaas-themed karaoke film from TV director Rita Horst.

Nellestijn’s film, which was released by E1 Entertainment, clearly won the battle for the children’s audience, currently standing at over €1.2m after six weeks in release. In comparison, Sinterklaasjournaal, which was released one week later by Independent Films, has only raked in about €300,000.

Two films aimed at young teens are also doing big business: Spangas op Survival, released by Walt Disney and based on a TV series, stands at over €1.7m in seven weeks, while David Schram’s latest adaptation of a youth novel from popular writer Carry Slee, Lover of Loser ("Lover or Loser"), has amassed over €1.4m in eight weeks.

Also of note is Independent Films’ successful release of Zonder Pardon (“Without Mercy”), a concert film of the touring one-man comedy show of actor-comedian Theo Maassen, which earned almost €71,000 from a release on 25 arthouse screens in one week.

The Dutch market is notably hard for serious fare aimed at adults, but two dramas are currently drawing big crowds: Ben Sombogaart’s historical film The Storm [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news) stands at an impressive €4.2m in nine weeks of release, while Will Koopman’s contemporary thriller Terug Naar de Kust has brought in around €1.4m for distributor E1 Entertainment in three weeks.

Koopman’s female-driven thriller is based on a bestselling crime novel and re-teams the director with her star of TV series Gooische Vrouwen, Dutch TV personality and actress Linda de Mol, a recipe that looks like a box office winner.