The Danish release of local director Lars Von Trier's Dogville hit tough competition from unusually good weather and a keenly anticipated soccer-match between Denmark and Norway this weekend.

With temperatures hitting 27 degrees across the country, and two bank holidays either side of the weekend (Thursday and Monday), Dogville opened on 29 prints on Wednesday June 4 against US titles National Security and Cradle 2 The Grave.

By the end of Sunday it had reached 16,079 admissions and grossed $185,366 (DKR1.2m), with $101,676 (DKR645,439) coming over the three-day weekend (June 6-8).

Although Danish critics were falling over each other in praise of Von Trier's latest Cannes competitor, Dogville was unable to come even close to chart leader The Matrix Reloaded's $249,951 over the weekend.

However, the drama did score a better screen average than the Matrix sequel, which played on 86 prints in its third week and has earned $3.1m in Denmark to date.

Dogville's initial figures are stronger than the seemingly more commercial Dancer In The Dark, which had more prints and opened with some 17,000 admissions.

In Belgium Dogville has taken $123,687 (Euros 105,752) from 10 screens after three weeks, while its first three weekends in the French-speaking region of Switzerland have brought in $80,628 (SFR 106,752) from four screens.

After three full weeks (to June 10) French admissions stood at 251,096 ($1.4m). Dancer In The Dark grossed $35m internationally in 2000.