03/10/2024 - Bogdan Mureşanu’s Venice-awarded debut feature exceeded 20,000 admissions during its opening weekend

After winning four awards at this year’s Venice Film Festival, including the top prize in the Orizzonti competition (see the news), Bogdan Mureşanu’s The New Year That Never Came [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bogdan Mureşanu
film profile] was released domestically last Friday by Forum Film and topped the weekly box-office charts with more than 20,000 admissions.

Although domestic box-office successes are not rare in Romania of late, award-winning or arthouse films are usually met with obstinate reticence by local audiences, which makes the appeal of Mureşanu’s film even more significant. Moreover, good word of mouth and enthusiastic reactions on social media may greatly increase the movie’s total number of admissions. It will surely help that the feature was released by a distributor with impressive experience, Forum Film being the traditional distributor of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures blockbusters.

For context, a Romanian film might win a Berlinale Golden Bear and still not be considered interesting for domestic audiences. For example, Radu Jude’s Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile] ended its stay in Romanian cinemas with less than 15,000 admissions, while the same director’s Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile] was seen by only 5,000 Romanians after winning the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival.

When taking into account recent films about the 1989 Revolution, The New Year That Never Came may exceed the 41,000 admissions of Tudor Giurgiu’s Freedom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tudor Giurgiu & Cecilia Ste…
film profile] and will very soon surpass the 24,000 admissions taken by Alexandru Belc’s Un Certain Regard-selected Metronom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexandru Belc
film profile].

Meanwhile, Romanian films backed by and starring various influencers fare much better in local cinemas. Buzz House: The Movie by Florin Babei was seen by 500,000 cinemagoers and now occupies third place in the yearly charts. Only two places below, we find Tati Part Time by Letitia Rosculet, with almost 410,000 admissions. A 20,000-admission first weekend is far less impressive when we bear in mind that only in 2023, there were as many as four domestic releases (Miami Bici 2, Romina, VTM [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Gift Wedding and The Action Pack) with opening weekends that exceeded 100,000 admissions.