Germany has spawned another locally-produced hit as the Tobis release of comedy Otto - Der Katastrofenfilm opened at the top of the German box office chart last weekend. Attracting 368,214 admissions from a huge 820 screens, the film's four-day gross came to almost $2m.

This latest Otto film, starring well-known stand-up comedian Otto Waalkes, is the fifth in the franchise produced by Rialto Film. The last Otto film was released in 1992 and attracted more than 2 million admissions (over $10m).

However Otto - Der Katastrofenfilm's opening was not at successful at last year's release of Werner - Volles Rooaaa, which took $5.1m from 879 screens and knocked Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace from the number one spot. The Werner animation was the third in the franchise released through Constantin and went on to gross over $15m.

German productions made a box office comeback in 1997 when domestic market share reached a record-breaking 17.3% of total box office. However it dropped back down to 10% in 1998 before recovering to 14% last year. The Comedian Harmonists was the top comedy in 1998 pulling in 2 million cinema-goers.