Lapland War sets 2020s opening record for Finnish films

Aku Louhimies’s Lapland War drew 80,178 people across Finland during its opening weekend, including preview screenings, setting a 2020s record for a Finnish film, Yle reported.

The film filled cinemas across Lapland. At the Bio Rex cinemas in Rovaniemi and Tornio, it had the biggest opening weekend for a Finnish film in the venues’ histories. The previous record at both was set by Louhimies’s Unknown Soldier in 2017.

Tornio cinema manager Ari Vuolukka said 1,872 people watched the film over the weekend, with demand exceeding the cinema’s capacity. In Rovaniemi, about 100 more people attended than in Tornio. Kemi’s Kinopirtti cinema welcomed more than 800 viewers.

In Sodankylä, the Lapinsuu cinema reopened especially to screen the film. It had closed six months earlier because of financial difficulties. Around 700 people attended its opening-weekend screenings, surprising the family that had run the cinema.

The film was shown in 175 cinemas nationwide. Its distributor and marketing company, Nordisk Film, said the opening-weekend audience was the largest for a Finnish film this decade.

Lapland War was filmed in locations including Tornio, Ylitornio and Muonio. In Tornio, one filming location was by the Tornionjoki River near Kukkolankoski.