'Killer' murder in Poland
"Killer" opened in a 45-print release on firstrun screens around Poland just a day before it won the audience favorite award at the Polish Feature Film Festival last week in Gdynia. Results from 41 cinemas showed first weekend attendance of 158,000, with $445,000 in box office receipts. "It's an absolute record-breaker for a Polish film," said Jasek Fuksiewicz, managing director of Canal Plus Film, one of the film's co-producers.
"Only 'Men in Black' and the 'Jurassic Park' films have done better."
And that's not the end of good news for "Killer." The day before the film opened, the Polygram release of the movie's catchy pop-rock soundtrack chalked up 15,000 in first-day sales.
One distributor not connected to the film estimated that it could break the 1 million admissions mark, which would be a record for a nationally produced film in post-Communist Poland.
In comparison, the most recent box office hit was Warner Brothers' "Space Jam," which tallied some 1.5 million admissions, earning the No. 4 box office spot.
The presence of popular comedy star Cezary Pazura could have a two-way effect, with his name attracting viewers, and his presence in the movie boosting the emerging Polish movie star category.
Distributors say only one actor, Boguslav Linda, has the power to open a film. Pazura's perf in "Killer" may have pushed him into that category.
The movie also enlists other popular movie names, including "Love Stories" actor/director Jerzy Stuhr, Marek Kondrat (also an actor-director) and actress Katarzyna Figura.
Jacek Bromski of Zebra film studio, which produced the film, says that bringing on board distributor ITI as a co-producer of "Killer" is added assurance the film will have a strong national release.
Director Juliusz Machulski is responsible for Poland's previous comedy hits, including 1995's "Girl Guide."
