The Challenges and Large Potential of Dutch Cinema

After the hopeful indicators of restoration over the past two years, attendance in all 5 markets dropped once more in 2024, by a small margin of three% in Denmark to almost 13% in Norway. Publish COVID results and Hollywood strikes that led to a scarcity of U.S. tentpoles had been blamed for the decline, nonetheless mitigated in some territories by the sturdy efficiency of home fare.

In Finland, native titles secured a document 31.6% market share, with the native epic love story “Stormskerry Maja” main the cost. In Sweden, the native champion was the heart-warming documentary “The Final Journey” during which the TV personalities Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson (aka Filip & Fredrik) journey to France to rekindle the zest for lifetime of Filip’s growing older dad. The Swedish Oscar entry largely contributed to the nation’s 22% market-share and largest ticket gross sales in seven years.

In Iceland, it was Hollywood-Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur who delivered the nation’s greatest hit: “Contact”, one other story of affection and tender memory of the previous, which ended up being short-listed for the Oscars for finest worldwide movie.

Contrastingly Denmark – normally the strongest performer within the Nordics – misplaced floor, particularly with homegrown titles, partly resulting from a 10-year low quantity of nationwide premieres, whereas Norway additionally suffered from a scarcity of native tentpoles that led to the weakest 12 months because the pandemic.

In addition to Finland and Iceland, Disney’s “Inside Out 2” dominated the Nordic charts.

Throughout the area, audiences selected protected film bets, both sequels or diversifications of well-known IP or tried universes.

DENMARK

With DKK 964,94 million ($135.5 million) earnings from 9.8 million tickets offered, the nation registered its worse ends in 30 years in accordance with preliminary figures from the Danish movie distributors’ affiliation FAFID relayed by the Danish Movie Institute. The drop was solely 3% 12 months on 12 months in admissions, nonetheless.

The pandemic, streamer competitors and Hollywood strikes had been in charge for the weaker cinema figures in accordance with DFI analyst marketing consultant Martin Kofoed Hansen, who underlined the general drop in first-run provides (down 18 to 209) and specifically the ten year-low quantity of Danish titles with 22 titles, far under the same old 31 annual output.

The 22 new Danish movies on launch earned DKK 208.4 million ($29.3 million) from 2.3 million ticket gross sales, down 8% year-on-year admission-wise, and 37% under pre-COVID time averages. The home market share (normally one of many highest in Europe, above 28%) needed to make do with 23% in 2024, down from 2023’s 25%. Nevertheless in accordance with the DFI, native fare nonetheless achieved much better gross sales than the general variety of movies on supply.

Three Danish titles made it within the Prime 10: the romance for mature audiences “When in Rome” starring Rolf Lassgård and Bodil Jørgensen; crime thriller “Boundless,” based mostly on best-selling writer Jussi Adler-Olsen’s “Division Q” sequence and political thriller “Kingmaker,” a sequel to 2004 hit “King’s Sport,” based mostly on one other standard e-book crime sequence from writer Niels Krause-Kjær.

With 5.9 million ticket gross sales, the native market share for U.S. titles dropped from 63% in 2023 to 58%.
Hollywood dominated the highest of the chart with 4 titles within the first spots, together with the most important hit, “Inside Out 2” from Disney.

Just one movie within the Prime 10 (“When in Rome”) was based mostly on an authentic story.

Taking a look at 2025, Hansen was assured that the downturn in attendance would reverse with a plethora of audience-pullers from the U.S. and Denmark, such because the Danish Oscar contender “The Lady with the Needle,” “Checkered Ninja 3” (the third instalment within the hit animation franchise) and Mads Mikkelsen starrer “Again to Actuality” from “Riders of Justice” helmer Anders Thomas Jensen. The Zentropa characteristic is because of open in Denmark this fall.

Prime 10 Movies in Denmark, 2024

(Rating based mostly on admissions (title, distributor, admissions, B.O., launch date)
Supply the Danish Movie Institute, FAFID – Gross BO – DKK1 = $0.14 as of Jan. 2025)

FINLAND

Cinemagoing in 2024 was nonetheless under pre-COVID ranges with 6.7 million admissions price €89.5 million ($94 million), down 5.5% in ticket gross sales in comparison with 2023 and 20.7% beneath the 2015-19 common, in accordance with estimates from the Finnish Movie Basis. Nevertheless, “the sturdy efficiency of home movies helped mitigate the decline”, mentioned the Basis’s head of statistics Petri Peltonen who underlined the distinctive sturdy efficiency of native movies throughout the nation.

“For the primary time in recorded historical past, each area’s most watched film was locally-produced,” he famous.

After “Barbie” in 2023 which soared on the Finnish field workplace and locked the most important ticket gross sales since 2014 (7.2 million), in 2024, it was the flip of a Finnish girl – Maja – and her empowering story of resilience within the interval film “Stormskerry Maja” that sailed to the highest. With practically 470,000 tickets, Tiina Lymi’s sweeping epic based mostly on the best-selling novels by Anni Blomqvist, scored a 10-year document excessive for a neighborhood movie.

In addition to “Stormskerry Maja” which beat Disney’s “Inside Out 2,” 4 different native movies made it within the Prime 10: the comedy spin-offs “Luottomies-elokuva: All in” by Kari Ketonen and “Kyllä isä osaa –elokuva” by Panu Raipia; the household film ”Hayflower, Quiltshoe and the Hen” by Reetta Aalto, and “Lengthy Good Thursday” by Mika Kaurismäki, the fourth instalment within the hit comedy movie sequence in regards to the “Grumpy” older farmer based mostly on Tuomas Kyrö’s novels.

Launched in October, the favored animated film and worldwide phenomenon “Niko – Past the Northern Lights” additionally handed the 100,000 admissions mark.

With 2.1 million tickets offered from 48 new premieres (together with 15 documentaries), Finnish titles scored their greatest end result since 2017, up 27.7% from 2023, though nonetheless 1.3% down from the 2025-19 common. This gave them a document 31.6% market share, a transparent leap from 2023’s 23.4%. Field workplace revenues additionally peaked at €27.37 million ($28.7 million) in 2024, up 35.8% from 2023 and 21.1% from the 2015-19 common.

“In 2024, cinemagoers appeared to gravitate more and more in the direction of acquainted native tales and nostalgia. I’d not be stunned to see this development proceed in 2025,” mentioned the Finnish Movie Basis’s head of distribution Ilmari Arnkil.

On the U.S. entrance and an aftermath of the 2023 Hollywood strikes, 79 new premieres accounted for 53.7% market share, a transparent drop from 2023’s 66.8%. In addition to “Inside Out 2,” the most important U.S. hits had been the franchises “Despicable Me 4,” “Dune: Half 2,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” and romantic drama “It Ends with Us.”

Prime 10 Movies in Finland, 2024

(Rating based mostly on admissions (title, distributor, admissions, B.O., launch date)
Supply the Finnish Movie Basis- Gross BO €1 = $1.05 as of Jan. 2025)

ICELAND

In a market overwhelmingly dominated by U.S. fare (normally above 80%), final 12 months’s dearth of Hollywood titles inevitably harm the theatrical market of the smallest Nordic nation, which dropped 5.8% in field workplace to ISK 1.6 billion ($11.4 million), and 9.8% in admissions to 904,809. Pre-pandemic instances, total ticket gross sales had been normally above 1.2 million. “Cinemagoing in Iceland went again to our pandemic days, the place a number of basic movies had been being proven on the large display screen,” mentioned Daníel Traustason from the rights holders’ affiliation FRISK.

An everyday champion on the native field workplace, Baltasar Kormákur’s romance “Contact”, shot between Iceland, London and Hiroshima, was the most important hit of the 12 months with over ISK 100 million field workplace ($ 717,388) from 44, 881 ticket gross sales. The helmer’s earlier pics “The Oath” and “Everest” topped the native charts in 2016 and 2015 respectively.

One other native title entered the charts at quantity 10: “Odd Fish” by Snævar Sölvi Sölvason, a feel-good film about two childhood buddies whose friendship is examined when one in every of them reveals she is a transgender girl. The film grossed ISK 38.5 million from 17,260 ticket gross sales.

Nevertheless, regardless of an equal quantity of recent titles on launch (8), Icelandic movies edged down 30% in admissions to 102,451, 12 months on 12 months, and 24% in gross field workplace to ISK 217 million. Native movies market share stood at 11%, down 2023’s 14%, whereas U.S. films stored their 80% market share of the final two earlier years.

The three greatest U.S. films of the 12 months had been Walt Disney’s “Deadpool & Wolverine”, “Inside Out 2” and Warner Bros’ “Dune: Half 2”.

As underlined by Traustason, six out of ten best-selling films had been sequels or based mostly on different acquainted IP.

Prime 10 Movies in Iceland, 2024

(Rating based mostly on field workplace (title, distributor, B.O, admissions, launch date)
Supply FRISK – Gross BO ISK1 = $0.01 as of Jan. 2025)

NORWAY

Regardless of indicators of restoration in 2022 and 2023, the market dropped once more fairly considerably in 2024 to eight.1 million admissions, down 12.8% from 2023 which was already 23% decrease than in regular years earlier than the pandemic (2015-19). In the meantime field workplace edged down 9.5% to NOK 1.1 billion ($99.1 million).

With tickets gross sales simply above 2 million, and field workplace revenues at NOK 25 million ($2.2 million), Norwegian movies didn’t handle to avoid wasting the movie 12 months.

“It’s been a very powerful 12 months for Norwegian cinemas, with the bottom cinema attendance because the pandemic,” mentioned Espen Pedersen, head of the cinema affiliation Movie & Kino who blamed each the dearth of U.S. tentpoles, the dearth of Norwegian audience-pullers the primary 9 months, till the September launch of Erik Poppe’s WW2 drama “Quisling: The Final Days.” “However neither this [film], nor different Norwegian movies carried out properly sufficient to avoid wasting the cinema 12 months for Norwegian cinemas, as was the case in 2023,” mentioned the cinema knowledgeable.

Solely two native titles entered the Prime 10, the WWII drama “Quantity 24” by “The Quake” director John Andreas Andersen, and the Qvisten Animation household movie “The Brothers Gruff Go to Splash World,” though the latter premiered in December 2023. “Usually, we’d have 4 or 5 Norwegian titles within the prime listing,” Pedersen noticed.

Mirroring the brand new financing and distribution mannequin for Norwegian movies, “Quantity 24,” produced by the commercially-oriented Movement Blur (“The Troll”), was partly financed by SF Studios and Netflix, which signifies that its theatrical run ended after 60 days though it offered probably the most tickets for a Norwegian movie in 2024. Launched on New Yr’s Day on Netflix, the movie grew to become the most-watched non-English language movie on the platform globally in its debut week, with 8.8 million views.

In cinemas, the final two months of 2024 had been essential in boosting common attendance as they accounted for 25% of all 2024 tickets gross sales, in accordance with Pedersen who believes the cinema upswing might be sustained all by means of 2025.

Norwegian titles ended up with 24.81% of all ticket gross sales, versus 67% for U.S. fare, that delivered eight out of 10 greatest hits of 2024, together with “Inside Out 2”, “Despicable Me,” “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Dune: Half 2,” and “Moana 2.”

Solely two titles within the Prime 10 featured authentic tales: Justin Baldoni’s “It Ends with Us,” and “Quantity 24.”

Prime 10 Movies in Norway, 2024

(Rating based mostly on admissions (title, distributor, admissions, B.O., launch date)
Supply Movie & Kino – Gross BO NOK1= $0.09 as of Jan. 2025)

SWEDEN

(No field workplace figures had been made accessible by the Swedish Distributors’ Affiliation)
Amid challenges shared with its neighbouring Nordic countries-and the remainder of Europe – put up COVID results, inflation, Hollywood strikes in 2023 – Sweden had one success story that proved {that a} single film can have a miracle impact. The documentary “The Final Journey” (“Den sista resan”),” chosen by Sweden as its Oscar candidate, emerged because the standout story of the 12 months.

Co-directed by standard native comedy heroes Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson who delivered 2018’s third greatest Swedish hit: “The Cake Normal” starring Mikael Persbrandt, “The Final Journey” has taken the Swedish nation by storm in 2024, promoting 412,425 tickets to make historical past as Sweden’s highest grossing documentary ever. The movie, produced by the gifted comedy duo’s outfit Nexiko (credited for the Netflix hit sequence “Younger Royals,”) gained finest documentary and the viewers award at Sweden’s nationwide Guldbagge awards and is being repped globally by Common Photos Content material Group.

The movie’s success comes from its heart-warming and tender portrait of a son – Filip Hammar – as he tries to reconnect together with his ageing father on a hopeful and uplifting highway journey to France.

Due to its phenomenal success at house, the movie additionally contributed to twenty% of all Swedish movie gross sales in 2024, in accordance with the Swedish Movie Institute’s statistics marketing consultant Torkel Stål.

In a classic 12 months for native documentaries, the movie “It May Have Been Us” (“Det kunde varit vi”) which activates a darkish chapter in Swedish historical past – the experiences of individuals with disabilities who had been confined to establishments within the twentieth century – additionally became a hit story, promoting 135,521 tickets. All in all, Swedish documentaries clocked in near 700,000 admissions, an absolute document in accordance with Stål.

Thanks to a different standard homegrown characteristic – the household movie “Håkan Bråkan 2”– Swedish movies ended up with roughly 2.3 million admissions, the very best determine since 2018, up 21% from 2023, leading to a market share of twenty-two% (17% in 2023). “The 2024 outcomes present that the viewers for Swedish movies on the cinema might be as huge as earlier than the pandemic,” mentioned the SFI knowledge specialist.

Whole admissions at about 10.4 million in accordance with estimates, nonetheless remaining method under pre-COVID by round 35% and round 7.8% versus 2023.

As at all times, U.S. fare took the biggest slice of the market – above 70%, delivering eight out of ten greatest grossers of the 12 months, led by “Inside Out 2”, “Despicable Me 4”, “Dune Half 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

Wanting forward, Stål mentioned ticket gross sales in 2025 ought to climb to 11 million or extra. “Though the Swedish viewers has modified since pre-pandemic instances in each attitudes and habits, there may be nonetheless a broad curiosity within the theatrical expertise. And the slate of American movie releases arising seems a lot stronger than in 2024.”

He added: “The scenario for native movies in 2025 seems a bit unsure although, because the variety of upcoming fiction releases is decrease than regular. However hopefully the optimistic development for Swedish documentaries will proceed. And there may nonetheless be additions to the discharge calendar of native fiction movies, particularly relating to the autumn. “

Prime 10 Movies in Sweden, 2024

(Supply Swedish Movie Institute, Filmägarnaskontrollbyrå, admission figures)