23/01/2024 - Iceland had its best year since 2018, Denmark witnessed a slight decline in admissions, whilst Norway, Sweden and Finland’s theatres are filling up but are still emptier than in 2019

Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves, which was the most successful Finnish film in its home country, racking up 255,000 admissions

According to the box-office figures made available over the last few weeks, the Nordic market is recovering, although it still falls short of pre-pandemic levels, with Nordic titles struggling to travel regionally and internationally. Similarly to many other European territories, the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon had a significant impact on the box office of the five Nordic countries.

In 2023, the best-performing market was also the smallest. In detail, Iceland’s box office increased by 32.5% on 2022 figures, thus reaching the highest level since 2018. Moreover, three domestic films – Elsa María Jakobsdóttir’s Wild Game, Erlingur Thoroddsen’s Cold and Óskar Thór Axelsson’s Operation Napoleon – made it into the top ten, contributing to a sharp increase in the share of local productions (from 9.2% in 2022 to 17% in 2023).

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In Sweden, cinemagoing grew by 8% (rising from 10.4 million in 2022 to 11.2 million in 2023). Figures are still down 29% compared to 2019, and the domestic market share dropped from 19.4% in 2022 to 17.1% in 2023. Only one Swedish film made it into the top ten – namely, Ted Kjellsson’s family comedy flick Håkan Bråkan.

Meanwhile, Denmark witnessed a slight decline in cinemagoing (from 10.22 million in 2022 to 10.03 million in 2023), with attendance levels still well below the 13 million threshold recorded in 2019. Besides this, the local market share decreased from 29.86% in 2022 to 24.88% in 2023. Notably, four Danish pictures made it into the top ten – The Land of Short Sentences [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Hella Joof, Before It Ends by Anders Walter, The Promised Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Nikolaj Arcel and The Kiss [+see also:
interview: Bille August
film profile] by Bille August.

Next, Norway saw a slight growth in the domestic market share (from 24% in 2022 to 27% in 2023). The most successful local productions included Christmas on Cobbler Street by Mikal Hovland and Narvik: Hitler’s First Defeat by Erik Skjoldbjærg, which ranked fourth and fifth in the 2023 top ten, respectively.

Finally, Finland recorded an encouraging 24% increase in its attendance levels, albeit still down 15% on 2015-2019 pre-pandemic figures. Soaring ticket prices, however, brought the overall box-office revenue closer to pre-pandemic levels (approximately €93.5 million). Predictably, Aki Kaurismäki’s latest effort, Fallen Leaves [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], was the most successful Finnish film (racking up 255,000 admissions). Nonetheless, Toni Kurkimäki’s debut, Lapua 1976, was one of the most surprising titles at this year’s box office. The picture made it into the top ten, securing ninth place and outperforming US blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.