14/12/2010

Animated Norwegian film Elias and the Treasure of the Sea by Lisa I. Osvoll took first place in the local box office after its opening weekend, pushing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] down to the number two slot.

Released by SF Film on over 100 screens last Friday, the second animated film about the little rescue boat Elias sold over 22,000 admissions. This time around, Elias and his friends, the fishing boats of Cozy Cove, are looking forward to the annual winter fishing season but new modern fishing trawlers are taking all the fish and threatening the existence of Cozy Cove. Elias hears about a legendary treasure and, believing it can save Cozy Cove, sets out on a treasure hunt.

Osvoll directed the first film of the series, Elias and the Royal Yacht, which surpassed 240,000 admissions in Norway in 2007 and was sold by SF to over 100 territories, including China, Japan and Latin America. The film was produced by John M. Jacobsen and Sveinung Golimo for Norway’s leading production outfit, Filmkameratene (Max Manus [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

Filmkameratene’s other current hit, the thriller The Troll Hunter, is still number four in the local Top Ten and with over 254,000 admissions after its seventh week it the second most successful Norwegian film of the year.