In Denmark Christoffer Boe’s joyful Sex, Drugs & Taxation (see interview with the director) conquered critics and audiences, selling nearly 65,000 tickets from 123 sites, with an admission per screen average of 434 (against 261 for the number two title One Direction This is Us 3D). Jan Lehmann, managing director of Nordisk Film Distribution Denmark said he expected the film to sell ‘several hundred thousand tickets' by the end of its theatrical run.
In Finland Morgan Surplock’s US documentary about the UK/Irish band One Direction opened at number one for Disney/Sony, relegating Disney’s Monsters University to number 2 and keeping at bay the three other openers Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (SF), Blue Jasmine (Scanbox) and Red 2 (Nordisk Film). The local title Village People by Marja Pyykkö (Nordisk Film) dropped from number two to eleven in its third weekend. Meanwhile the Finnish nature documentary Tale of a Forest (Nordisk Film) continues to add numbers to its historical run on domestic screens, safely approaching the 80,000 admissions.
In Iceland, despite its quintessentially national theme exploring Icelanders’ love for horses and nature, Benedikt Erlingsson’s Of Horses and Men opened only at number six, unable to beat the US screen debuts catering for a younger crowd, the supernatural The Conjuring, animation film Planes and sci-fi thriller Elysium. However good word of mouth and positive reviews should maintain Of Horses and Men on domestic screens in the long run.
In Norway Erik Skjoldbjærg’s oil conspiracy thriller Pioneer sold 40,567 tickets in its opening weekend, slightly under Smurfs 2 (42,241) but with the previews the film stayed on top of the local chart with 45,054 total admissions from 158 screens. The local family film Mormor og de åtte ungene stayed at number three and total admissions in its third weekend are at 112,561 for Nordisk Film.
In Sweden Jens Jonsson’s Life Deluxe had a strong debut with 83,867 tickets sold (including previews). The third instalment in the Easy Money trilogy had a good admission per screen average (423) and producer Fredrik Wikström Nicastro said he envisaged the thriller to end its run with better results that Easy Money 2 (330,000 admissions).
The animation film Hocus Pocus Alfie Atkins by Norwegian director Torill Kove climbed from fourth to second place in its second weekend, playing in 119 cinemas. The screen adaptation of Gunnilla Bergström’s beloved children’s books added 11% tickets and total admissions to date are 33,764 for Nordisk Film. The Swedish feelgood movie It’s All about Friends (Hur manga kramar finns det i världen) represented by SF was number five last weekend, selling 12,413 tickets from 101 screens, for a total count of 95,704 after three weekends.
Sources: FAFID, SMAIS, Norsk Filmbyråers Forening, Filmikamari, Filmägarnas kontrollbyrå