By the end of the year, a total of 32 Danish feature films will have premiered in cinemas, matching the record year of 2005 – the highest number ever. And with 3.7 million tickets sold with only a few weeks left of the year, audience attendance for Danish films is also at a historic high. This represents a full 68% more tickets sold for Danish films than last year, while overall ticket sales have increased by 3%. This year’s strong box office performance is not due to just a few major crowd-pullers, but to a broad range of films released throughout the year.
The Director of the Danish Film Institute, Tine Fischer, welcomes the development:
“2025 shows what Danish film can achieve when talent, ambition and strong cultural policy support for Danish cinema align. The historically high market share reflects an audience that shows both trust in and curiosity about the originality of Danish storytelling, and a film industry that is recovering after years of difficult financing challenges. With an ambitious Danish film policy, there is now a foundation to secure Danish film’s position as the national focal point for the major stories that resonate widely, as well as for new talents who challenge us and raise questions. With humour, courage and artistic risk-taking, 2025 has delivered relevant and innovative stories that have appealed to cinema audiences across the country and across all age groups.”
Danes Go to the Cinema – and Choose Danish Films
With only a few weeks left of the year, Danish films currently hold a market share of 40%. This is a significant increase from 24% last year and 25% in 2023, and far above Sweden, where the market share is around 9%. France, which normally has Europe’s highest local market share, currently stands at 35%. The only years in which the Danish market share was higher were the COVID years, when the number of Hollywood releases was drastically reduced.
Market share for Danish film 1980–2025
The Danish market share is likely to end a few percentage points lower by the end of the year, partly due to the release of Avatar 3: Fire and Ash on 17 December.
This year’s biggest box office successes include Checkered Ninja 3, which drew full theatres and cemented its status as one of Danish cinema’s strongest family brands, while The Last Viking is Anders Thomas Jensen’s best-selling film in Denmark to date, with more than 700,000 tickets sold. Under The Stars, Special Unit - The First Murder, and Kingmaker have each sold more than 300,000 tickets. Currently, 6 of the year’s 10 most-watched films in Danish cinemas are Danish productions.
2025 Top 10 – as of 10 December 2025
Several films with a more immediately niche audience potential have also performed well at the box office. Frelle Petersen’s South Jutland drama Home Sweet Home has been seen by 190,000 cinema-goers, while the Oscar-nominated The Girl with the Needle was seen by more than 236,000 people in Danish cinemas. The fact that a black-and-white, artistically ambitious film about a difficult subject can reach both audiences and the world’s biggest stage in itself demonstrates Denmark’s creative strength.
In addition to feature films, seven Danish documentary films premiered in cinemas in 2025, selling a combined total of 73,500 tickets.
Danish Children’s Films Are Back
After several years of declining production of Danish children’s films, 2025 has marked a comeback. Whereas each of the past two years saw only three Danish children’s or youth films, a full 11 titles premiered in 2025 – the highest number since 2009.
Number of Danish cinema premieres for children and young people
The large output is reflected in ticket sales. Danish children’s films sold a combined total of 1.2 million tickets, making 2025 the strongest year for children’s films since 2018 and one of the most successful in recent times.
This year’s titles for children and young people span a wide range of genres, tones and age groups. Several of the films have also received international recognition. Honey, Lotte & Totte - My First Friend, The Children of Silver Street Take A Stand, and Mira have been screened, among other places, in the Berlin International Film Festival’s children’s film section and at leading children’s film festivals such as Cinekid in Amsterdam and the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.
As a result, Danish children’s cinema is back – with ambition, breadth and impact – for children in Denmark and abroad.
The strong trends continue into 2026. Already at the beginning of the year, two new Danish family films will premiere: Curly Burly and When Mumbo Jumbo Grew Giant.
Tine Fischer says:
“Children and young people are one of the most important target groups for Danish film at the moment. In recent years we have seen a decline in ticket sales for Danish children’s and youth films. We need to address that. Together with the Ministry of Culture and the industry, we have therefore launched an ambitious strategy. This year we are reaching 1.2 million tickets sold to children and young people, which shows us that long-form storytelling can both entertain, bring people together and create space for immersion. Children and young people want imaginative and magical stories that reflect many of the questions our contemporary world contains. Here, Danish film and the cinema have a special responsibility – and a special opportunity.”