22/03/2010

On the back of record book sales of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, Niels Arden Oplev’s film adaptation of the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Niels Arden Oplev
interview: Søren Stærmose
film profile], opened in the UK March 12 with £378,434 from 114 screens. The number six placing in the UK box office charts is a rare high for a film not in the English language.

In order to surmount the language barrier, distributors Momentum joined hands with the UK Film Council to dub the film into English and released it in four cinemas. If the experiment succeeds and audiences in those cinemas respond positively, the UK could well join mainland Europe and dub the vast majority of foreign language films, a prospect less than enchanting for film buffs.

Tattoo has now sold to more than 50 countries by Zodiak Entertainment Distribution and has grossed over €62.7 m internationally.

The third film in the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest [+see also:
trailer
film profile], opened in Spanish cinemas on March 12 to similar success. Distributed by Vertigo, the movie took more than €260,000 in its opening weekend. Box office receipts for all three films in the Millennium trilogy have so far grossed over €117.5 m worldwide. There are plans for an American remake, with David Fincher tipped to direct the first instalment.

Emmanuelle Bouilhaguet, Scripted Sales Director at Zodiak, said, “Yet again Millennium has delivered to brand new cinema audiences. The success of the film in the UK, historically a very tough market for foreign films to crack, makes us all the more proud of this amazing product in the Zodiak Entertainment Distribution portfolio. We are extremely pleased that our international movie phenomenon continues to appeal throughout Europe and beyond.”