Denmark has enjoyed a buoyant cinema attendance the first half of 2019, with more than 6.1 million admissions, up 7% year on year according to the Danish Film Institute. Box office was up from DKK 507,346,815 in 2018 to DKK 544,657,977.

With 1.78 million admissions (against 0.87 million in 2018), local films were largely responsible for the sharp rise in ticket sales, in particular the animated film Checkered Ninja by Anders Matthesen and Thorbjørn Christoffersen that sailed to the top of the charts with a whopping 619,667 admissions.

Two other Danish films - May en Toukhy’s Queen of Hearts (324,100 admissions) and Michael Noer’s Before the Frost (206,261), also performed strongly and ranked 5 and 8 respectively at the top 10.

Mads Kamp Thulstrup’s Kongernes Fald about legendary motorcycle speedway rider superstar Ole Olsen was the second most popular documentary (5,929 admissions, Camera Film) after Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old (7,645, SF Studios).

The Nordic (non-Danish) bestsellers were the Swedish titles Becoming Astrid by Pernille Fischer Christensen (114,640 admissions, Nordisk Film) and Britt-Marie Was Here by Tuva Novotny (8,171 admissions, SF Studios).

Commenting on the first half of 2019, Claus Ladegaard, head of the Danish Film Institute said the Danish film industry “can be quite satisfied” with the healthy first half of the year. “With a market share of 29% [as per July 1st], there is reason to be optimistic, although we don't expect the number to stay that high,” he added.

“Looking at the coming months, there's a varied offering of titles, from adventure films and intense dramas to strong comedies. We look forward to seeing how the films meet their audience, because this is of course the essence of a vibrant cinema market – that the films are relevant and meaningful to as many as possible.”

See Denmark 2019 January - June Admissions Chart: CLICK HERE.