Icelandic comedy denies Avatar the top spot ( Bjarnfreðarsson vekur umtal )

 

Icelandic comedy Mr Bjarnfredarson has topped the local box office forcing James Cameron’s epic Avatar into second place for two weeks running.

The $1.2m film, based on a popular Icelandic TV series about the lives of an overbearing communist and his former co-workers, took $115,000 in its second weekend at the Icelandic box office (January 1-3), compared with Avatar’s $111,000.

The film, directed by Ragnar Bragason and produced by local outfit Sagafilm, took $104,000 in its opening weekend (December 26 -28) making it the most successful Icelandic film opening to date. Avatar took $89,700 over the same weekend but grossed $115,000 over its opening weekend (December 18 – 20).

Mr Bjarnfredarson has attracted over 39,000 ticket sales to date, accounting for over 10% of the Icelandic population.