After breaking the 2 million admissions mark in the Nordic region, Felix Herngren’s comedy The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared is reaching international screens and film fans can also look forward to watching more of the hapless geriatric Allan Karlsson as production company NICE FLX Pictures is eyeing at a possible sequel.
“Clearly, the film’s results have exceeded our expectations,” producer Patrick Nebout told nordiskfilmogtvfond.com, referring to the film’s record breaking performance especially in Sweden where the film has sold over 1,53 million tickets, making it the biggest Swedish film in more than two decades and one of the ten biggest local hits ever. The film based on Jonas Jonasson’s best-selling novel is still playing at number 7 in Sweden’s Top Ten after 13 weeks and is showing similar strong legs in the rest of the Nordic region. With 230,000 admissions in Norway, 138,000 in Denmark and 90,000 in Finland since Christmas, The 100 year-Old is the biggest Swedish film in those territories since the three Millennium films and in Iceland, figures are at 13,000 after four weeks.
Due to popular demand, NICE FLX Pictures is now looking at making a sequel or prequel with an original script. “Everyone on board - producers, creators, comedians, financiers - are eager to move forward. But we will only proceed once we feel we have a strong and fresh new angle to Allan Karlsson’s odyssey. The literary material is so rich and there are many elements from the book that weren’t used for this film, and at the same time audiences will expect something new and at least as original, funny and moving as the first film,” says Nebout.”
In the meantime, the film The 100 Year-old Man has landed yesterday in Germany where Concorde has booked a medium-sized release with 200 screens, a mix of arthouse and multiplex venues. “Our strategy is to open specifically in bigger cities and student centres and we’ll wait for audience reaction to increase – or not - the print run,” explains Lutz Prauser, Head of Marketing for Concorde Distribution. “In Germany, we have a market friendly environment to novel adaptations, but people are conservative and there is always a risk that they will compare the novel with the book. We’re also a bit cautious because the film doesn’t have recognizable star names unlike for example our recent hit Night Train to Lisbon (by Bille August).
Other world territories lined up include Netherlands (May 1, Wild Bunch) and France where Studio Canal is planning a wide release with nearly 300 prints on May 28. “The film will open nearly everywhere in the world, but we’re still waiting to close the US,” said Anna Marsh, Head of International Film Sales for Studio Canal. “We’re preparing an English language version for the English speaking territories where the film will be subtitled,” noted Marsh.