30/11/2011

While The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is top of the pops in the rest of Scandinavia, Arne Lindtner Næss's Magic Silver 2 - The Quest for the Mystic Horn has conquered Norwegians' hearts. In its second week, Norway's first live action feature in 3D took 43,000 admissions against the Twilight vampires' 34,000 (although the US feature still leads - 215,000 against 143,000 - in total ticket sales).

A regular on the local charts with his Junior Olsen Gang franchise - he directed-produced the original television series in 2001, then wrote-directed the feature cycle spin-off in six installments - Næss was first choice of Norwegian producer Jørgen Storm Rosenberg for the sequel to the 2009 Magic Silver box-office success.

"And I did not hesitate to accept his offer," Næss told local press. "As with the Junior Olsen Gang there was a concept you had to be faithful to, at the same time extending it, adding a touch of humour. It was also exciting to work on Norway's first film in 3D - there was little expertise here, so we found foreign assistance (UK's Vision3) for the extra dimension."

Norwegian writer Gudny Ingebjørg Hagen originally created the Magic Silver universe for an award-winning Christmas television series aired by Norwegian public broadcaster NRK in 1999, again in 2001, 2004, 2008; it was also adapted for the stage. Before Hagen and Thomas Moldestad scripted the 2009 movie which reached 400,000 admissions domestically.

Produced by Rosenberg and Lasse Greve Alsos on a €3.8 million budget, for Storm Rosenberg, and shot in mines at Modum, Franzefoss, and at Oslo's Norsk Folkemuseum of cultural history, Magic Silver 2 - The Quest for the Mystic Horn catches up with young Queen Bluerose in difficulties living with the Blue Gnomes on the Blue Mountain.

However, when she learns that a dangerous glacier is threatening, she sets out to find the Blue Horn, a magical instrument that can change the weather and probably save them all. While Norsk Filmdistribution released the feature domestically on 200 screens, sales chief Michael Werner, of Sweden's NonStop Sales which handles international distribution, reported of huge foreign interest for the franchise.

The two Magic Silver films have so far been licensed to German-speaking territories (Eurovideo), France (97 Films Production), Spain (Flins Y Piniculas), Benelux (Bright Vision Entertainment), Russia-CIS (TC Worldwide), Poland (Kino Swiat), Czech Republic (Ceska Televize), Former Yugoslavia (Demiurg), Poland (Kino Swiat), Czech Republic (Ceska Televize), Former Yugoslavia (Demiurg), US-Canada (Kidflix Global), Central-South America (Videx International), Mexico (Indepentent International TV, Leda Films), Japan (Interfilm), Indonesia (MT Entertainment) and Iran (Century 21 Visual Media).