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BOX OFFICE Norway

Norway’s box office sees a decline in 2017

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- The good omens of 2016 weren’t enough for local films to maintain their market share, as the lack of a substantial blockbuster reduced audiences’ interest

Norway’s box office sees a decline in 2017
The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King by Mikkel Brænne Sandemose

Despite record-breaking attendance levels in 2016, the best since 1983 – added to the fact that local films saw their best results since 1975 – last year was not quite as successful for Norwegian movies, as there was a decrease of almost 6% in their market share, dropping from 23.9% (3,132,678 tickets) in 2016 to 18% (2,123,323 tickets) in 2017. One possible reason for this change could be the lack of a local blockbuster that would have pulled audiences into the cinemas.

In place of The King’s Choice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erik Poppe
film profile
]
, which took more than 700,000 admissions in 2016, last year only Mikkel Brænne Sandemose’s The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King [+see also:
trailer
interview: Eili Harboe
film profile
]
 managed to bag a place in the top ten at the Norwegian box office. The family adventure, which is the first in a trilogy about the Norwegian national hero, took just over 354,000 admissions and ended up in second place, losing out to Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Also, according to the recently released statistics, total cinema admissions have dropped by 10.4%, from 13,119,180 in 2016 to 11,764,384 in 2017.

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If we look at the lower ranks in the chart, family films remain strong in Norway, with titles like In the Forest of Huckybucky [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Twigson the Explorer [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 and Casper and Emma Go Hiking [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
. The most successful of the festival films was the Toronto-premiered sophomore effort by Iram HaqWhat Will People Say [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iram Haq
film profile
]
, which drew in close to 108,000 cinephiles to the theatres. Meanwhile, the documentary Marcus & Martinus [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, which follows the successful twins and teen pop idols, enticed more than 140,000 fans into the dark rooms.

As for the predictions for 2018, Harald Zwart’s World War II drama 12th Man [+see also:
trailer
interview: Harald Zwart
film profile
]
 has plenty of potential to become the much-needed blockbuster for the Norwegian market, as in the weeks since its release on Christmas Day, it has racked up more than 370,000 admissions.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

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