31-08-2011

Lotte Sequel Opens Strong in Estonia

By Martin Aadamsoo

    TALLINN:Lotte and the Moonstone Secret, an Estonian-Latvian children's animated feature film, drew 9,658 film-goers in its opening weekend, making it the fifth largest Estonian domestic film launch in 10 years. The film cost a reported 2.9 M EUR to produce, making it the most expensive Estonian film of all time.

    The film is a sequel to the first animated feature Lotte from Gadgetville (2006) that has been sold to nearly 40 territories to date. The Lotte character herself, a friendly dog girl, has become a retail trademark in Estonia, adorning anything from cell phones and bed linen to ice cream and establishing itself as the nation's prime children's brand along the way.

    Estonia's best opening weekend result by a domestic film is still held by the historic epic Names in Marble, released in 2002 and drawing 15,611 viewers in its first weekend.

    Lotte and the Moonstone Secret was produced in co-production between Eesti Joonisfilm (www.joonisfilm.ee, Kalev Tamm, Riina Sildos) of Estonia and Rija Films (Vilnis Kalnaellis) of Latvia.