NEWS
CINEMA IN ICELAND 2008
The Icelandic cinema audience reached nearly 1.6 million guests in 2008, which is a seven percent increase from the previous year. This means that, on average, each Icelander went to the cinema five times in 2008, the best turnout for cinemas since 2002. The number of cinemagoers in Reykjavik rose by eight percent between 2007 and 2008, but the number of cinema visits decreased slightly outside of the city. The value of tickets sold at cinemas in 2008 was 1270 million Icelandic kronur.
The number of full-length feature films that were shown in Icelandic cinemas in 2008 was 166. Of those 81 percent, or 134, were American and eight percent, thirteen films, were British. Only one film hailed from another Nordic country, but seven films were Icelandic.
The market share of Icelandic films accounted for eight percent of theatre attendance and 10.5 percent of ticket revenue. This is a substantial increase in market share for Icelandic films as compared to previous years. American films accounted for the largest part of market share in Icelandic cinemas, just over 80 percent, in terms of both theatre attendance and ticket revenue.
Iceland had eighteen cinemas and 41 screening rooms in thirteen locations around the country in 2008. Seats available numbered 6446 and 819 screenings took place each week on average. The number of cinemas outside of Reykjavik went down by two from the previous year.
Every year, Statistics Iceland gathers information on cinema screenings and the Icelandic cinema industry. The information used by the office is obtained from the cinemas themselves and from the Association of Film-rights Holders in Iceland (SMÁÍS).