Erik Van Looy's new feature Loft, which was recently picked up for international sales by London-based The Works, is becoming a bona fide box office smash in its home territory of Belgium.

Loft, which opened last week, has now posted 125,000 admissions, five times more than the number two film in the charts, Mamma Mia!, in the same period.

This compares favourably with the director's previous feature The Alzheimer Case (The Memory of a Killer), which attracted close to 60,000 cinemagoers during its first weekend in 2003 and went on to become one of the biggest box-office hits in Flemish history. According to the film's distributor, Independent, Loft has had the strongest opening for a film in Belgium this year.

Last week Loft opened on 32 screens in Flanders and Brussels.

Scripted by Bart De Pauw and Van Looy, the film is about five married men who share a secret: a spacious loft, in which they can quietly receive and entertain their lovers and latest conquests. When they discover the body of a young woman, their secret retreat no longer seems such a smart idea.

Loft is produced by Hilde De Laere for Woestijnvis and is distributed by Independent Films (Benelux). The film is supported by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF).

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