18/07/2005

Cinema admissions in Norway declined by almost 13% during the first semester 2005 compared to the same period last year, with 4,5 million admissions from January to the end of June 2005 against 5,2 million the previous year.
Box office receipts also dipped by 6,5% during the same period from NOK 350,773,759 (€ 44m) to NOK 327,800,450 (€ 41m) according to figures published by Film & Kino in Norway.
According to the Norwegian trade publication, the lack of blockbusters such as the Harry Potter or Lord of The Rings franchises, as well as lower prices for DVDs partly explain such a decrease in cinema attendances.

The most popular Norwegian film this year so far is Finding Friends (Venner for livet), a children’s film by Arne Lindtner Næss which sold 186,451 tickets since its February release. The German film Der Untergang [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bernd Eichinger
interview: Joachim Fest
interview: Oliver Hirschbiegel
film profile] (Downfall) is the second most popular film of the year after Star Wars Episode 3 with 261,538 admissions in 23 weeks, while one of its competitors at this year’s Oscars for Best Foreign Language film, the Swedish As It Is In Heaven [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is also doing well in Norway with 253,663 admissions in 20 weeks.