Norwegian cinema attendance has recovered from a temporary decline, to total 1.9 admissions in 2006, up 5.3% from 2005, according to preliminary figures from Norwegian cinema association, Film & Kino. Domestic films sold 1.9m tickets, to take 16.5% of the market - up from 12.2% the previous year - the best result since 1975 with the exception for 2003.

'It is good to see that local features do so well in competition with the international blockbusters,' said Film & Kino's managing director Lene Loken. 'At the same time an all-time record in DVD sales shows that the market has space for several ways of distributing films.'

Loken added that over the last 10 years that Norwegian cinema attendance has been stable in spite of annual fluctuations, due to the number of larger, audience-oriented films.

Slightly above average, 2006 has been dominated by such international features as Ice Age 2 (890,025 admissions), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (665,274), The Da Vinci Code (442,603) and Casino Royale (401,094).

Six domestic productions entered the list of Top 20 Films, lead by comedy Long Flat Balls (258,329), thriller Cold Prey (251,594) and family film The Jr Olsen Gang at the Circus (243,220).
According to Film & Kino's video consultant, Erik Zmuda, DVD sales reached 18m units in 2006. The 25 most popular titles, with Ice Age 2, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, accounted for 2.4m discs.

'What works in the cinemas, works on DVD,' explained Zmuda. His calculations conclude that for the 25 titles, theatrical earnings contributed 53.5% and DVD 46.5% to their total turnover.

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