19/01/2012

The numbers for 2011 were extremely good in the Dutch cinema business - more than 30 million tickets were sold, a number not achieved since 1978. Box-office grosses were up €240m and admissions to Dutch films accounted for a big part of the higher receipts, with attendance of local films up from 14.83% to 21.88%.

The total number of tickets sold in 2011 was 30,434,937, compared with 28,189,790 a year earlier. Total receipts for 2011 were €239,928,440, compared with €219,370,413 in 2010, an increase of 9.73%.

Dutch films were definitely the hit story of 2011, with the most visited title of the year, Gooische vrouwen [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (pictured) a local production. The Will Koopman-directed effort, adapted from a popular TV series, sold more than 1.9m tickets, or 28% of all tickets for Dutch films in 2011. The total number of tickets sold for home-made productions was more than 6.8m in 2011, compared with 4.4m in 2010.

Released by the NVB, NVF and FPN, the associations of cinema-owners, distributors and film producers respectively, the figures also included the average ticket price for 2011, which was €7.88, only 10 cents up compared with the average price a year earlier. Some of the reasons for the popularity of the medium included strong local films, the introduction of 3D and the addition of more screens and seats (13,000 extra seats for 96 screens over the past five years).

The second biggest local film was Nova zembla [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which sold 624,000 in 2011 (the late November release is still on screens) and placed 6th in the top ten.

Dutch films that attracted more than 200,000 visitors each included Sonny Boy [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which recently screened at the Palm Springs Film Festival; New Kids: Nitro! [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which was released in Germany earlier this year, and The Heineken Kidnapping, which has already been sold to several territories.

Despite the strong numbers, the new head of the NVB Winnie Sorgdrager expressed concerns about piracy and the fact that Dutch film production will be hit by austerity cuts in the coming years.