21/02/2008

Unlike the other Nordic territories, Iceland had another record year as box office gross increased by 2% to ISK1.1bl (€11.4m) and admissions reached 1.4 million in 2007.

Not surprisingly, US films took the lion’s share of the revenue (almost 82%). Foreign films snagged 9% of the theatrical market share and Icelandic films another 9%.

For Icelandic distribution association Smais, two positive trends in 2007 were worth pointing out. First, three local films made it in the top 20: Gunnar B. Gudmundsson’s comedy Astropia (number five with 46,313 admissions for Samfilm), Gudny Halldorsdottir’s The Quiet Storm (in twelfth place with 17,761 admissions for Sena) and Björn Br Björnsson’s Cold Trail (16 with 14,676 admissions for Sena).

Second, in previous years only one Icelandic film made it into the top 20 when in 2006 Baltasar Kormákur’s Jar City [+see also:
trailer
film profile] broke all records with 81,000 admissions. Smais Managing Director Snæbjorn Seingrimsson also stressed that almost twice as many titles broke the ISK20 million mark at the box office in 2007 compared to 2006.

This year is off to a smashing start with Iceland’s top filmmaker Kormákur back on domestic screens. His White Night Wedding [+see also:
trailer
film profile] has already sold over 40,000 tickets in five weeks and should continue to climb comfortably for Sena.

Another wedding-themed film could bring healthy returns this year – The Wedding Ceremony, the directorial debut of world renowned editor Valdis Óskarsdottir – as well as Olaf de Fleur’s comedy drama The Higher Force and Sólveigh Anspach’s Back Soon co-produced with France.