Norwegian films dominated Norway’s 2025 box office as cinemas sold close to 8.4 million tickets, up about 200,000 from 2024, according to industry body Film & Kino. Five domestic titles made the year’s top 10, pushing the Norwegian market share to a record 31.3% — even as overall attendance remained well below the levels the sector says it needs to be sustainable.
Norwegian films took five places in the top 10
The year’s most-watched film in Norway was the Norwegian family title “Hvis ingen går i fella”, which sold 450,789 tickets. The top international release was “En Minecraft-film”, in second place with 431,904 admissions.
Film & Kino’s annual figures show that five Norwegian films ranked among the ten most-seen theatrical releases in 2025:
- “Hvis ingen går i fella”
- “Blücher”
- “Affeksjonsverdi”
- “Flåklypa – Fra Paris til pyramidene”
- “Kaptein Sabeltann og Grevinnen av Gral”
In total, Norway sold 2,623,023 tickets to Norwegian productions in 2025. That is what drives the record domestic share of 31.3% — a notable result for a small-language market where Hollywood franchises often dominate the annual rankings.
A warm summer and a slow start held the year back
Despite the stronger headline result for Norwegian titles, Film & Kino described 2025 as uneven. The year started slowly, and an unusually warm summer weakened attendance during peak holiday weeks.
The figures underline how far the sector still is from its pre-pandemic baseline. Film & Kino points to around 12 million annual tickets as a healthier level for the Norwegian cinema economy.
For comparison, Film & Kino reported 9.3 million tickets sold in 2023, 8.8 million in 2022, and 8.2 million in 2024. The peak year in the last decade was 2016, when Norwegian cinemas sold 13.1 million tickets.
What the record 31.3% domestic share means
A high Norwegian market share is not only a cultural metric. It also affects how revenues flow through cinemas, distributors and producers — and therefore how much risk the industry can take on future projects.
The 2025 results suggest that locally rooted titles — especially family films and well-known franchises — can still mobilise broad audiences. For Norway, that matters in a wider Nordic context where public support, regional co-productions and European funding mechanisms often complement domestic box-office income.
Looking to 2026: a push back above 10 million tickets
Film & Kino’s CEO Espen Lundberg Pedersen said the industry expects a stronger slate in 2026 and forecasts more than 10 million tickets sold if major releases perform as hoped.
Whether that target is reached will depend on how audiences respond to the mix of international blockbusters and new Nordic titles — and on whether cinemas can avoid another summer slump. What 2025 has made clear, however, is that Norwegian films currently play a bigger role than they have in years in keeping the country’s cinema market afloat.
