Admissions declined in Norway, but local market share went up during the first six months of 2007, according to statistics published by Norwegian cinema association, Film & Kino. Theatres sold 5.1m tickets during the period, down 13% on 2006, still 1.4% better than in 2005. Local fare accounted for 20.6% of attendance, against 18.4% last year.

'The theatrical market is increasingly depending on the big international blockbusters,' explained managing director Lene Løken, of Film & Kino. 'For instance in June admissions soared by 9.5% compared to last year, solely due to the success of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Die Hard 4.0.'

'Domestic films exceeded one million tickets already in May, and there are strong expectations for the line-up scheduled both for the summer and the autumn,' she added. Two local features in release, both family films, havde exceeded 200,000 admissions: The Junior Olsen Gang and the Silver Treasure (290,000) and Elias and the Royal Yacht (229,000).

'Theatrical attendance may fluctuate, but it has essentially been stable since the beginning of the 1990s. At the same time DVD sales are surging - they reached a record high in 2006 - and a recent poll the MMI institute conducted for us concluded that the majority of the DVD buyers are identical with the cinema audiences, and vice versa. Norwegians are seeing more films than ever before,' Loken explained.

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