Top local cinema performances last year in Denmark, Finland and Norway.

The Absent One

Danish films registered 3.3 million admissions - down from 4.1 million in 2013 - to control 26.5% of the domestic market in 2014.

Five titles in Denmark’s top 10 were local productions, including the first and second highest ranked features: Mikkel Nørgaard’s The Absent One (Fasandræberne) and Mikkel Serup’s The Reunion 2 – The Funeral (Klassefesten 2 – Begravelsen).

Although total ticket sales were down from 13.5m in 2013 to 12.3m year-on-year, 2014 was classified as “a good average year, still with some growth in attendance” by Danish Cinemas trade association chairman Kim Pedersen, classified

“The five most popular films, taking in foreign releases The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and How to Train Your Dragon 2, were all parts of franchises, and they all performed better than their prequels,” said Pedersen.

As a result, new multiplexes are under construction in Ørestaden, Frederikssund, Aalborg, Køge and Herlev, and Cinemaxx has just added four screens to its Copenhagen circuit.

Last year, Nordisk and Zentropa launched eight and five features respectively to take 31.8% and 30% of admissions for local releases. “If we count ASA Film’s Father of Four series, which Nordisk is also strongly involved in, the total figure will exceed 70%,” Pedersen concluded.

He expected 2015 to become a record-breaking year, mainly due to US blockbusters that had their premieres delayed – Furious 7, The Good Dinosaur, Fifty Shades of Grey, Tomorrowland, Jupiter Ascending and Minions. 

DENMARK: TOP 10 FILMS 2014

1 The Absent One (DK/Fasandræberne). Dir: Mikkel Nørgaard. Prod: Zentropa Entertainments. 764,002 admissions

2 The Reunion 2 – The Funeral (DK/Klassefesten 2 – Begravelsen). Dir: Mikkel Serup. Prod: Nordisk Film Production. 604,285 adms

3 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (US). Dir: Peter Jackson. 485,425 adms

4 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (US). Dir: Francis Lawrence. 310,076 adms

5 How to Train Your Dragon 2 (US). Dir: Dean DeBlois. 306,049 adms

6 Frozen (US). Dirs: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee. 302,168 adms

7 Father of Four (DK/Far til Fire – Onkel Sofus vender tilbage). Dir: Giacomo Campeotto. Prod: ASA Film Production.  286,444 admissions

8 Speed Walking (DK/Kapgang). Dir: Niels Arden Oplev. Prod: Nordisk Film Production. 249,489 adms

9 The Wolf of Wall Street (US). Dir: Martin Scorsese. 246,373 adms

10 Silent Heart (DK/Stille hjerte). Dir: Bille August. Prod: SF Film Production. 236,818 adms

Finland

For the third time since the 1970 start of Finnish cinema statistics, local films sold more than 2 million tickets in 2014, to control 27% of the market.

Finnish director Dome Karukoski’s The Grump was the frontrunner taking 458,637 admissions, beating blockbuster The Hobbit, per the annual statistics from the Finnish Film Chamber.

“It is a high benchmark for Finnish theatres – only four Finnish movies have reached it since 2000. But it was a good year for domestic films in general, with eight releases taking more than 100,000 admissions,” said Kati Nuora, international communications officer at the Finnish Film Foundation.

Some 32 new Finnish features were launched during the year. As well as The Grump, a further three Finnish titles made the top 10: Ricky Rapper and the Slick Leonard; Towards The Day of Doom; and Moomins on the Riviera.

In addition, 12 Finnish documentaries were released theatrically.

FINLAND: TOP 10 FILMS 2014

1 The Grump (FI: Mielensäpahoittaja). Dir: Dome Karukoski. Prod: Solar Films. 458,637 admissions

2 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (US). Dir: Peter Jackson. 350,405 admissions

3 Ricky Rapper and the Slick Leonard (FI: Risto Räppääjä ja liukas Lennart). Dir: Timo Koivusalo. Prod: Artista Filmi. 265,907 adms

4 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (US). Dir: Peter Jackson. 179,974 adms (446,000, including 2013)

5 Towards The Day of Doom (FI/Kummeli V). Dir: Aleksi Mäkelä, Prod: Nummela-Filmi. 178,345 adms

6 Jill and Joy (FI: Onneli ja Anneli). Dir: Saara Cantell. Prod: Zodiak. 177,161 adms

7 Moomins on the Riviera (FI/Muumit Rivieralla). Dirs: Xavier Picard, Hanna Hemilä. Prods: Handle Productions, Pictak France. 174,428 adms

8 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (US). Dir: Francis Lawrence. 172,018 adms

9 Rio 2 (US). Dir: Carlos Saldanha. 161,590 adms

10 Frozen (US). Dirs: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee. 151,566  adms (192,000 including 2013)

Norway

Although Norwegian cinema attendance in 2014 dropped 6.1% from 2013, to reach 11.1 million, admissions for local titles sold 2.7 million tickets to control 24.4% of the market - 0.6% better than last year and close to the 2011 record of 24.5%, according to statistics from Norwegian cinema association Film & Kino.

“It was certainly the year of films for children and youth audiences: six of the top 10 were from this category, including four Norwegian productions,” said Birgitte Langballe, head of communications at Film & Kino.

For the first time, Norwegian titles held number one at the box office charts from early April till the Dec 10 release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which also became the year’s top grosser.

Also for the first time, during the whole year at least one Norwegian feature has been among the top four on the hit list.

NORWAY: TOP 10 FILMS 2014

1 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (US). Dir: Peter Jackson. 482,975 admissions

2 Børning (NO). Dir: Hallvard Bræin. Prod: Filmkameratene. 381,648 adms

3 Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder (NO: Doktor Proktors prompepulver). Dir: Arild Frøhlich. Prod: Maipo Film. 377,778 adms

4 Captain Sabertooth and the Treasure of Lama Rama (NO: Kaptein Sabeltann og skatten i Lama Rama). Dirs: Lisa Marie Gamlem-John Andreas Andersen. Prod: Storm Films. 365,902 adms

5 Casper & Emma’s Christmas (NO/Karsten og Petras vidunderlige jul). Dir: Arne Lindtner Næss. Prod: Cinenord Kidstory. 321,789 adms

6 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (US). Dir: Francis Lawrence. 318,273 adms

7 Frozen (US). Dirs: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee. 291,231  adms

8 How to Train Your Dragon 2 (US). Dir: Dean DeBlois. 262,936 adms

9 Operation Arctic (NO/Operasjon Arktis). Dir: Grethe Bøe-Waal. Prod: Filmkameratene. 258,623 adms

10 The Wolf of Wall Street (US). Dir: Martin Scorsese. 225,681 adms

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