2013 was a tough year for Iceland with rampant piracy hurting cinema-going and a lack of mainstream Iceland films that kept local market share at a low 3.1%. In Norway and Sweden fewer people went to the cinemas compared to 2012, but domestic films stayed strong. Local films had a 22.7% market share in Norway and 25% in Sweden.

Iceland: Downward trend in cinema-going
In 2013 total admissions in Iceland decreased by 4% to 1,369,901 and box office receipts fell by 2% from 2012 to ISK 1,484,362,247. According to Snaebjorn Steingrimsson, managing director of SMAIS (Icelandic Association of Film Rights Holders), ‘the cinema market in Iceland is still very strong but there is a worrying trend with admissions down almost 13% from 2010. This downfall trend could partly be explained by the ‘lack of anti-piracy measures’.

“The year was very disappointing for local films as there was no local production in the top 20 and admission was only 3.1% of the total, down 9.4% from the previous year. The B.O share for local titles was 3.6%, down 11.3% from 2012. This can be partly explained by a lack of blockbuster Icelandic films whereas in 2012 films like Black’s Game (ISK 83,370,322 gross in 2012) and The Deep (ISK68,455,705 gross in 2012) did very well at the B.O,” noted Steingrimsson. In comparison, last year’s biggest grossing Icelandic film, Benedikt Erlingsson’s comedy Of Horses and Men released by Sena grossed ISK 19,740,260 and sold 13,233 tickets. Last year’s biggest hit on Icelandic screens, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D sold 39,785 tickets and Baltasar Kormákur’s Hollywood movie 2Guns sold 29,845 tickets for an eighth ranking

For Isi Isleifur Thorhallsson (Sena/Green Light Films), Iceland’s main distributor of local films, the tougher market for smaller arthouse fare requires new distribution initiatives to help those films find their audience. “In the second half of 2013 we basically saw the bottom fall out in regards to arthouse film attendance. Films have to offer something really special to work in the cinemas, as figures in 2013 were lower than we had ever seen before. I think it’s vital to start using VOD, at least with theatrical, to find new ways to make art-house releases work”, he said.

TOP FIVE ICELANDIC FILMS 2013

FILMS

DISTRIBUTORS

ADMISSIONS

GROSS B.O.

Of Horses and Men
(Hross í oss)

Sena

13,233

19,740,260

Spooks and Spirits
(Ófeigur Gengur Aftur)

Samfilm

10,523

14,484,350

Metalhead
(Málmhaus)

Sena

5,627

6,817,030

XL

Samfilm

2,810

3,480,500

Latibaer Bióupplifun

Myndform

3,993

3,261,362

Source: SMAIS

Norway: Second best results for local films in a decade
Total admissions in Norway reached 11.8 million in 2013 which is 2% down from 2012, but above the average for the past decade according to preliminary figures from the Norwegian Film Institute and Film & Kino. Driven by children and family films, in particular by the phenomenal success of the stop motion animation film Solan & Ludvig Christmas in Pinchliffe (best-selling title of 2013 despite its late release on November 8), Norwegian films had the second best results of the last decade with nearly 2.7 million tickets sold, an increase of 24% compared to 2012, for a market share of 22.7%.

Only 2011 had higher attendance numbers for local films (2.85 million admissions for a 24.5% market share) but that was largely due to the blockbuster epic Kon-Tiki (881,658 admissions).

Last year another Norwegian film with actor Pål Sverre Hagen in the lead - Ragnarok was the best biggest Norwegian film of the year and second local film in the Norwegian Top 10 above the Hollywood titles Croods 3D, Rive-Rolf 3D and The Hangover Part 3. Commenting on the 2013 attendance results Sindre Guldvog, new CEO of the Norwegian Film Institute said: “Children and family movies largely contributed to the 2.7 million admissions for Norwegian films. Many factors seem to indicate that the saying ‘film is best in cinemas’ still applies, and with last year’s admissions fresh in mind, I have great confidence that 2014 will be a good year for Norwegian films, both at home and internationally.”

TOP TEN NORWEGIAN FILMS 2013

FILMS

DISTRIBUTORS

ADMISSIONS

Solan & Ludvig-Christmas in Pinchliffe
(Solan og Ludvig-Jul i Flåklypa)

Nordisk Film

853,868

Ragnarok
(Gåten Ragnarok)

Nordisk Film

250,570

Casper & Emma-Best Friends
(Karsten og Petra blir bestevenner)

SF Norge

218,133

Granny & the Kids
(Mormor og de åtte ungene)

Nordisk Film

187,970

Pioneer
(Pionér)

Nordisk Film

169,777

Ploddy the Police Car on the Chase
(Pelle politibil på sporet)

Nordisk Film

158,029

A thousand Times Good Night
(Tusen ganger god natt)

Euforia Film

95,838

Victoria

SF Norge

89,860

Kill Buljo 2

Action Film

77,851

Hocus, Pocus, Alfie Atkins
(Hokus Pokus Alber Åberg)

Nordisk Film

74,468

Source: NFI-Film & Kino

Sweden: 25% market share for local films
According to preliminary data from the Swedish Film Institute for the calendar year 2013, cinema attendance reached 16.53 million, which is 8% less than the record year of 2012 (18.3 million) but more than in 2011 (16.4 million). Thanks to a wide variety of quality films, Swedish titles sold around 4.08 million tickets and attracted 25% of cinemagoers, the highest level since the record year of 2009 when local fare took 32% of the market thanks to the Millennium effect. 

The comedy The 100 Year-old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared (released by Walt Disney on Christmas day) was the biggest Swedish hit and third biggest film of 2013 with 518,089 admissions, just after The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (566,764) and the number one title of 2013 The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug (794,906). The previous year only one Swedish film made it in the Top 10: Hamilton in the Interest of the Nation (512,661 admissions).

For Hjalmar Palmgren, Head of Production & Development at the Swedish Film Institute screen digitization has played an important role in the acceleration of films’ potential revenues. “2013 was the first year when almost all cinemas are digital. A film can now reach very high numbers in an extremely short period of time. For instance The 100 Year-old Man sold over 500,000 tickets in only one week and will reach well over one million by the end of January. But the advantages of digital cinemas for box office successes might come with a price to pay for films with smaller audience potential. A welcome surprise however was the Guldbagge winner The Reunion that exceeded expectations [the film released by TriArt on November 15 will soon reach 100,000 admissions]. “

TOP TEN SWEDISH FILMS 2013

FILMS

DISTRIBUTORS

ADMISSIONS

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared
(Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann)

Walt Disney

518,089

Waltz for Monica
(Monica Z)

SF Film

516,520

The Anderssons in Greece
(Sune i Grekland-All Inclusive

Nordisk Film

321,395

The Anderssons Hit the Road
(Sune i bilsemester)

Nordisk Film

286,731

Easy Money-Life Deluxe
(Snabba Cash livet deluxe)

Nordisk Film

256,003

Jerry Maya Detective Agency 1-von Broms Secret

(Lasse Majas Detektivbyrå-von Broms hemlighet

SF Film

220,080

Shed no Tears

(Känn ingen sorg)

SF Film

217,047

Nobody Owns Me

(Mig äger ingen)

SF Film

206,836

The Importance of Tying Your Shoes

(Hur manga kramar finns det i världen)

SF Film

149,780

Love & Lemons

(Små citroner gula)

Nordisk Film

135,838

Source: Swedish Film Institute