06/11/2012 - UK director Sam Mendes' 007 movie starring Daniel Craig delivers the best performance of any Bond to be released in Scandinavia

Shaking box office records outside the US, where it opens on November 9, Skyfall [+see also:
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making of
film profile], UK director Sam Mendes' 23rd installment in the 007 series starring Daniel Craig, has grossed €221 million during its first ten days. In the UK, it registered the biggest first week in cinema history.

In Scandinavia as well, the Svensk Filmindustri AB (SF Film Danmark, FS Film Finland, SF Norge) release set new standards, rocketing to No 1 in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, where total attendance as of November 4 was 1,620,159.

In Sweden, leading distributor SF launched Skyfall on 222 screens on October 26, to reach 173,981 admissions during the opening weekend - the best result in 2012, and the best for a Bond film ever. Up to now, it has sold 482,480 tickets.

Both in Denmark and Finland it reported this year's best openings, with 165,281 (116 theatres) and 136,872 admissions (137 screens) respectively - in Finland, it was the best of all time. Current figures: 456,503 in Denmark, 287,908 in Finland.

"A good marketing campaign, lots of publicity around the 50th anniversary, but first of all an excellent film," said SF Norge's distribution chief Åke Hoffart of the Norwegian performance: an all-time record opening (157,619 admissions/289 screens), going up to 383,268.

In Sweden, Skyfall ran into a minor obstacle, as the National Media Council decided that the film should be restricted to audiences aged over 15; SF appealed, and the Stockholm Court of Appeal lowered the ruling to 11.

Craig has had a problem with the Swedish authorities before: US-German director Marc Forster's Quantum of Solace [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] was first permitted to the over-15-year-olds only, but the distributor objected and won. The film eventually ended in No 2 position on the 2008 charts.