Local films in Denmark, Finland, Norway take top spot at B.O.

Christoffer Boe’s The Purity of Vengeance (Journal 64 in Danish) dominates the Danish top 10 for the 4^thweek in a row, joined at the top Nordic charts by Land of Hope in Finland and Congo in Norway.  

In Denmark, The Purity of Vengeance, Zentropa’s fourth instalment in the Department Q thriller series, shows no sign of slackening after a full month on screens through Nordisk Film. Last weekend the thriller starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Fares Fares sold another 46,622 tickets from 98 screens, pushing total admissions to 619,150, making it the biggest Danish film of the year. Each of the three previous films based on Jussi Adler-Olsen's Department Q crime novels, all passed 700,000 admissions, with the first film The Absent One achieving the biggest result (764,000).

Two other Nordisk Film releases based on best-selling novels, secured a spot at the Top 10: the fantasy family film Wild Witch by Kaspar Munk, was number 6 after three weeks, with 83,000 total admissions, while Bille August’s A Fortunate Man climbed from number 12 to 9 in its ninth week. The period drama has sold 375,622 tickets to date, making it the third biggest Danish film of 2018. Meanwhile SF Studios/SF is enjoying the good run of Björn Runge’s The Wife (148,081 total admissions) number 7 last weekend.  

In Finland the period love story Land of Hope by Markku Pölönen went straight to number 1 for its opening weekend, selling 34,252 tickets from 138 screens. The Solar Film production released by Nordisk Film stars Oona Airola (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki) and Konsta Laakso (Garbage Prince).  The biopic The Singer-Olavi Virta by Timo Koivusalo in which Lauri Tilkanen plays the celebrated Finnish singer and king of tango, came in at number 5 after Land of Hope, Halloween, A Star is Born and Johnny English Strikes Again. The Disney release has sold a total of 115,545 tickets after four weeks.

Selma Vilhunen’s Stupid Young Heart remained stable at number 6 after three weeks on screens, with 51,181 combined tickets sold. According to Nordisk Film’s Katarina Nyman, the film is a notable hit among its core audience, as 84% of its viewers are under 24, and 77% are young women. 

The fourth Finnish film at the local top 10 last weekend was Tiina Lymi’s Happier Times-Grump, number 9 in its 10^th week. The drama comedy is the biggest Finnish film of 2018 with 316,449 admissions.  

In Iceland, Baldvin Z's Let Me Fall is now the second top selling film of the year after Mamma Mia Here We Go Again. The powerful local drama has reached 50,576 total admissions for Sena after 8 weeks - outperforming Baldvin Z’s previous hit Life in a Fishbowl, which sold nearly 48,000 tickets in 2014.

The Finnish film Happier Times-The Grump was number 8 in Iceland with 3,069 admissions for Mynform, while the local drama Mihkel by Ari Alexander Magnússon, released by Sena, attracted 2,911 cinemagoers. The Danish thriller The Guilty opened at number 14 for Bío Paradís, with 174 admissions from a single screen.  

In Norway Marius Holst’s drama Congo based on a true story, opened at number 1, with 36,927 admissions from 182 screens for Nordisk Film. The film starring Aksel Hennie and Tobias Santelmann as Norwegian adventurers Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland, received mixed reactions from the press.

Two other Norwegian films released by Nordisk Film were in the Top 10: Louis & Luca-Mission to the Moon by stop motion animation specialist Rasmus A. Sivertsen, which posted 362,094 admissions after 6 weeks, and John Andreas Andersen’s The Quake, watched by 573,861 Norwegians in 9 weeks. The disaster film is the second biggest film of 2018 after Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again.   

In Sweden the local sketch-based comedy Kingdom of Sweden (Lyrro-ut & invandrarna) by Peter Dalle sold nearly 100,000 tickets in its second weekend. The Fox/Nordisk release is a follow up to Dalle’s hit TV series Lorry and film Yrrol starring again Johan Ulveson, Claes Månsson and Suzanne Reuter, alongside new actors Björn Gustafsson, Henrik Dorsin and Nour El Refai.

SF Studios’ family film Halvdan Viking based on Martin Widmark’s popular children’s book opened at number 5, selling 14,966 tickets from 176 screens, just under UIP/Sony’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web, which kick started at number 4, with 16,446 admissions from 198 screens.
Meanwhile Sweden's Oscar candidate Border released by TriArt, has now sold 70,253 tickets after 9 weeks on Swedish screens, and is finding an audience across borders. Admissions in Denmark have reached 21,723 after 5 weeks through Camera Film, 7,809 in Norway after 2 weeks through Another World Entertainment, and 371 in Iceland after 2 weeks, via Bío Paradís. 

Sources: FAFID, Danish Film Institute, FRÍSK, Filmikamari, Finnish Film Foundation, Norske Filmbyråers Forening, Filmweb.no, Filmägarnas Kontrollbyrå, Nordisk Film.