18-08-2021

BOX OFFICE: Three Czech Films Top Local BO Chart

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    Prvok, Šampon, Tečka a Karel by Patrik Hartl Prvok, Šampon, Tečka a Karel by Patrik Hartl credit: Bontonfilm

    PRAGUE: Five domestic films were in Czech Republic's top ten in the week 9-15 August 2021, of which three topped the chart. An unusual film jam awaited the reopened cinemas, with many postponed titles finally getting in front of the audience.

    The clear winner is the comedy Prvok, Šampon, Tečka a Karel by Patrik Hartl, which has had approximately 300,000 admissions since its premiere on 27 June 2021. The film is a Czech coproduction between Bontonfilm Studios, Bourdon, Europeana Production and Frame100r.

    Another Czech coproduction, Deníček moderního fotra directed by Jan Haluza and produced by CinemArt in coproduction with Fresh Lobster and Fénix Film, opened this week with 30,000 admissions, while Gump - pes, který naučil lidi žít directed by F. A. Brabec and produced by ScareVille has had approximately 120,000 admissions since 22 June 2021.

    As usual, non-mainstream productions tell a different story. The Man with Hare Ears Gump / Muž se zaječíma ušima directed by Martin Šulík and coproduced by IN Film Praha and Titanic, counted only 805 admissions during its opening weekend.

    It is not unusual for domestic productions to find a way to the top of the box office list, as mainstream Czech cinema holds a traditionally strong market share. In 2019, 24.1% of all cinemagoers chose to visit a majority Czech film and two of the top 10 films of the year were of Czech origin. The comedy Women on the Run / Ženy v běhu directed by Martin Horský and produced by Infinity Prague in coproduction with CinemArt managed to be the most successful film of 2019 with 1.5 m admissions.

    In 2020, due to the lack of Hollywood productions, the Czech cinema was even more prominent, filling all the first five spots of the box-office. Caught in the Net / V síti by Vít Klusák and Barbora Chalupová, a Czech/Slovak coproduction produced by Hypermarket Film and coproduced by the Czech TelevisionRTVS, Peter Kerekes Film and Helium Film, was not only the most attended film in Czech cinemas in 2020, but also the most commercially successful Czech documentary of all time with 2.4 m EUR / 61 m CZK gross.