Norway's largest cinema operator has been forced into a U-turn over its refusal to accept recently-implemented national film rental rates.

In an unprecedented move, Oslo Cinemas opted out of a new film rental agreement (Screendaily Jan 9), choosing instead to negotiate terms on a film-by-film basis with each distributor. Norway's main distributors responded by threatening not to supply major releases to the exhibitor as long as it refused to conform to the new industry standard. Earlier this month, the opening of Spy Game was cancelled due to Oslo's rejection of the film's rental rates.

The threat of losing further major Hollywood titles, among them several hot Academy Awards contenders such as Vanilla Sky, Ocean's Eleven and Beautiful Mind, persuaded the exhibitor to reverse its decision and accept the higher rental terms for the biggest releases.