A Royal Affair to become "one of greatest successes in Danish cinema"

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

05/04/2012 - ”It will certainly become one of the greatest successes in Danish cinema, both domestically and abroad,” concluded Danish producer and Zentropa Entertainments CEO Peter Aalbæk Jensen, when he had received the opening figures for his company’s latest release, Danish director Nikolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair [trailer, film focus].

Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Bo Følsgaard, the 18th-century love affair at the Danish court between the King’s physician-in-ordinary and the Queen reached 91,578 admissions (including previews) from 101 Danish screens during its first weekend, one of the strongest performances ever for a local film.

It performed better than last year’s No 1 Danish film, Martin P Zandvliet’s A Funny Man [trailer], which sold 484,000 tickets in total, or Susanne Bier’s Oscar-winning In a Better World [trailer], which ended at 450,000, and even Arcel’s own King's Game from 2004, which came to 560,000. After Monday (April 2) audiences numbered 110,315.

”A really good story, Mikkelsen in the lead and a remarkable production value – the first Danish costume drama which matches American and French films” are the reasons why TrustNordisk Managing Director Rikke Ennis thinks that international buyers have been quick to open their chequebooks.

The double Silver Bear winner at the recent Berlinale was produced by Louise Vesth, Meta Foldager and Sisse Graum Jørgensen for Zentropa, which has so far backed the country’s Top Five international performers, including No 1, Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark (2000), which screened to 4.4 million audiences.