16/12/2010

The last month of the year reserves another surprise local box-office champion in the Netherlands: New Kids Turbo [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The film, directed by Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil, is based on the popular TV series (and originated as a web series) New Kids created by the directors. The film tells the story of five young slackers on the dole who live in a small village in the country’s Catholic south and who spend the day swearing and being violent and impolite to people.

New Kids Turbo was released last week on 89 screens by Benelux Film Distributors (BFD) and immediately set the record for best opening of a Dutch film ever, with €249,500 on opening day, some €5,000 more than the previous record holder, A Woman Goes to the Doctor [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which was also produced by Eyeworks.

The director-producer of the latter film, Reinout Oerlemans, is also the producer behind this adaptation and makes a cameo appearance in both the teaser trailer of New Kids as well as the film itself.

The film also set the record for most people visiting a Dutch film on a single day, which occurred on Saturday, when 57,000 people bought a ticket for the film. The film’s total weekend take (measured from Thursday-Sunday), excluding previews, was almost €1.5m, with an impressive per-screen average of almost €16,800.

By comparison, the average of the number two of the weekend, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 [+see also:
trailer
film profile], was just €3,000 per screen (from 230 screens).

The end of the year is again a strong one for local films: Dik Trom and The Dinner Club (both BDF releases, see news) have each attracted over 100,000 viewers since their release late November, while local horror offering Sint, currently in its sixth week of release, is closing in on 400,000 viewers.

Another potential audience hit, Loft from director Antoinette Beumer, a remake of the Flemish hit thriller, opens today, courtesy of Independent Films .