BOX OFFICE: Biopic Dražen Achieves Best Croatian Opening in a Decade

07-11-2024

BOX OFFICE: Biopic Dražen Achieves Best Croatian Opening in a Decade

By Milena Zajović

Dražen by Danilo Šerbedžija - premiere credit: Zoe Sarlija / Kinoteka

ZAGREB: The biopic Dražen, directed by Danilo Šerbedžija and produced by Kinoteka, recorded the most successful opening weekend for a Croatian film in the past decade, according to the Croatian Audiovisual Centre. Drawing 23,071 viewers and grossing 137,895 EUR, it also ranked as the most-watched film of the weekend, according to boxoffice.hr.

The film chronicles the life of Dražen Petrović, the legendary Croatian basketball star, whose NBA career was tragically cut short by a car accident in 1993. Dražen's success at the box office can be attributed to Petrović's enduring legacy, but the strong opening is also seen as part of a broader resurgence in Croatian cinema.

Recent data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics reveals an upward trend in box office attendance. Although the number of screens and screenings remained relatively stable in 2023 compared to 2022, attendance rose by 22.9%.

Croatian cinemas, which had seen a record 5 million admissions in 2019, experienced a sharp decline to 1.5 m admissions in 2020 due to the pandemic, but attendance rebounded to 2.5 m admissions in 2021, 3.2 m admissions in 2022, and reached 3.9 m admissions in 2023, with a total of 184,764 screenings nationwide.

Published in Croatia