08/10/2002 - Ken Loach’s Sweet Sixteen is the English director's best-ever opening film. A great result despite a "18 plus" rating from the Film Board

Last weekend’s (4 October) UK release of his latest film, Sweet Sixteen was, according to his long-standing producer Rebecca O’Brien, “the best ever opening” for a Ken Loach film. Icon Film Distributors released Sweet Sixteen onto 66 screens nationwide and the reported box office take for the three-day period was £144,000 (Euros 216 million).
In Scotland, where the film is set, Sweet Sixteen scored the best per screen average ever for a Loach film: £3659 (Euros 5,800) on 15 screens.
Although delighted by the results and the work done by the distributor, Rebecca O’Brien told Cineuropa today that the film could have done even better, if only the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) had given it an “18 certificate”:
“The decision from the BBFC was absurd as it was based purely on the use of one bad word that is common use for working class children even under the age of 10”….“The under 18 restriction certainly prevented some of the core audience of the film –the 15-18 years old- from seeing it”, complained O’Brien.
Sweet Sixteen’s strong UK performance – in spite of the ratings problem - is very good news for Loach whose films usually do better in countries such as France or Spain than they do domestically.
Sweet Sixteen won the best screenplay award at the last Cannes Film Festival and sales company, The Works, will screen it at MIFED before representatives of the handful of territories that have not yet bought this film.