25/04/2022 - Jakub Štáfek and Martin Kopp's movie, revolving around a foul-mouthed footballer, dominated the local box office during its opening weekend

The Czech box office has had a rude awakening from its post-pandemic slumber by the domestic brash football comedy Vyšehrad: Fylm. The film became the number one at the box office during the week of its premiere, grossing 30,681,835 Czech crowns (€1,260,345) and selling 181,154 tickets (173,470 of which over the weekend). Vyšehrad: Fylm was followed by Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which managed to sell 57,931 admissions over the Easter weekend. Distributor Bioscop/AQS rolled out the film in 211 theatres across the country during the weekend in question.

“Looking at the Czech films that took over 100,000 admissions in the first weekend, only Zátopek [+see also:
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film profile] (108,000) in August 2021 and Karel (105,000) in October 2021 have crossed this threshold since the coronavirus outbreak began. Vyšehrad: Fylm can also compete with foreign films, as only Spider-Man: Far From Home reached almost 180,000 admissions during its opening weekend in December 2021. All other flicks, from the new James Bond movie, No Time to Die [+see also:
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Vyšehrad follows a talented (albeit not particularly bright) and vulgar footballer called Julius “Lavi” Lavicky as he forges a career. However, he spends more time boozing and partying than he does on the pitch. The film’s central story revolves around the protagonist finding out, on his wedding day, that he has a son, while also satirising domestic football goings-on and scandals. Jakub Štáfek, who portrays the protagonist – the “enfant terrible” of Czech football – co-directed the feature-length effort with Martin Kopp (3Grapes [+see also:
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Vyšehrad originated as a webseries on the now-defunct Czech online television channel Obbod TV, where the series garnered a cult following (the platform also produced another fan-favourite webseries, the hockey comedy Lajna). As the producers from Gangbang Production, the outfit behind Vyšehrad: Fylm, decided to postpone its premiere owing to the coronavirus, the audience was able to get a taste of the movie experience when a “prequel”, Vyšehrad: Seryjál, was released in theatres in summer 2021. It comprised an edit of the online series into a feature-length format, improving the sound and image quality, and adding new footage. Vyšehrad: Seryjál ended up grossing €124,964, with 22,974 admissions in total.

Vyšehrad: Fylm came in in third place in the top 20 of the best opening weekends for domestic films, behind the fairy tale Angel of the Lord 2 [+see also:
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film profile] by Jiri Strach (188,005 admissions) and Women on the Run [+see also:
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film profile] by Martin Horský (177,682). In addition, it was 19^th in the all-time top 20 of opening weekends, which is dominated by Avengers: Endgame, with 344,686 admissions (Angel of the Lord 2 occupies 14^th place in this list and Women on the Run 17^th).

Vyšehrad: Fylm will be released in Slovakia on 19 May.

The source for the data cited here is the Czech Union of Film Distributors.