Denmark 2020: historical 50.4% market share for local films

Three months of shut down cinemas in the spring and again in December, on-going screen restrictions and the shortage of US blockbusters that took 58% of the market in 2019, had an unprecedented effect on admissions that plummeted from 13.2 million in 2019 to 7.2 million, according to the Danish Film Institute.

However, Danish films kept audiences’ appetite for the big screen at its highest level.

Despite the extraordinary context, ticket sales for local films stayed almost on par with 2019, at 3.6 million in 2020 against 3.4 million the previous year, which enabled homegrown features to hit an all-time record market share of 50.4% - up 24% from 2019’s 27%.

Claus Ladegaard, CEO at the Danish film Institute said: “Despite the unstable situation, a great many people chose to see Danish films at the cinema last year. This shows we have a healthy industry with the talent and skills to create powerful stories that resonate with large audiences. Even with an increased consumption of films and series on flat-screens at home, it is clear that people miss going to the cinema where you can be together with others and share the experience.”

The top selling films of the year were two Zentropa productions starring Mads Mikkelsen: Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round with 802.693 admissions - the fourth best-selling Danish film in two decades, despite the pandemic - and Anders Thomas Jensen’s Riders of Justice, with 459,773 admissions.

Three other local films, released in January, were in the Top 10: the comedy Klovn-the Final by Mikkel Nørgaard (437,381 admissions), the WW2 dramas Into the Darkness by Anders Refn (370,100) and The Good Traitor by Christina Rosendahl (198,360).

The popular kids franchise Father of Four and the Vikings by Martin Miehe-Renard also secured a spot in the Top 10.

The biggest US film - Frozen 2 released at Christmas 2019 ranked 5 with 313,902 admissions.

The biggest documentaries of the year were Miracle Distribution’s US title Amazing Grace, with 25,465 admissions, followed by the Danish films 7 Years of Lukas Graham by René Sascha Johannsen (21,819) and Feras Fayyad’s Oscar-nominated The Cave, both distributed by Camera Film.

Among Nordic (non-Danish) new openers, the three best-sellers were all animated features: Norway’s Ella Bella Bingo (41,258 admissions, Scanbox) and Captain Sabertooth and the Magic Diamond (26,958, Nordisk Film) as well as Sweden’s Pelle No Tail (5,584, SF Studios).

Looking ahead, Ladegaard cited the attractive 2021 film line-up, ranging from “dramas from experienced directors such as Bille August's The Pact about Danish storyteller Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen, Christoffer Boe's romantic drama A Taste of Hunger, Ole Bornedal's WW2 story The Shadow in My Eye, and not least Martin Zandvliet's Department Q crime thriller The Marco Effect.

The head of the DFi also noted that “quite a few new talents will be premiering their films this year, so, there's much to look forward to as we keep our fingers crossed for a brighter 2021."

To see Danish 2020 - January to December 2020 Admissions Charts: CLICK HERE.