The new year brought a big jump in the box office in both, Germany and Austria, only to drop again on the second weekend of 2022. The hopeful start was short-lived partially due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, and we are not even talking about a pandemic; the weather was perfect in both countries and people flocked to the ski slopes instead of the movie theaters. This affected mostly family fair. Films in the US are rated PG13.

That is not to say that the pandemic had nothing to do with it, but it was by no means the only reason for the drop of an overall 23 percent compared to the first two weeks in January. This weekend saw 737.000 people buying tickets for an overall less than seven million euros.

What is not helping is that most originally scheduled new releases have been pushed back to April and May. This affects mostly US films but also some homegrown products. Only three new movies are in the top 20, only two of them in the top ten, even if one screamed its way into the number two spot: the fifth installment of the Scream franchise saw 85.000 fans flocking to the theater. This is interesting because this series of slasher films is almost a quarter-century old with the fourth film being released ten years ago. The only conclusion? Horror movies appeal to everyone, regardless of age and generational preference. In the US, the new installment raked in almost 31 million dollars in only three days. The other six new releases are a horrorshow by themselves. None of them made it into the top 20.

Who is Germany’s number one hero, though? Still Spider-Man: No Way Home, who keeps occupying the highest seat. With another 250.000 million theatergoers this week, Spidey is on an ambitious climb to four million (he’s at 3.5 now), even if he dropped 34 floors, sorry percent this weekend. While House of Gucci is out of fashion in most countries, the style keeps its hold on German-speaking audiences, unlike Matrix: Resurrections which dropped a full 50 percent. One of the new releases is Spencer starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana that made it to seventh place, not bad for an arthouse film that got mixed reviews at film festivals.

It is a German comedy by acclaimed director Söhnke Wortmann called Contra that was shot in 2020 and pushed back by Corona that made its way to a successful number three spot. Dark humor rules in this story of the arrogant college professor Pohl (played by Christoph Maria Herbst) and his impertinent student Naima (upcoming star Nilam Farooq who won the Bavarian Film Award for her role), a German girl of Moroccan descent. The film is based on the French original The Brilliant Mademoiselle Neila. Both invoke visions of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady with the female lead coming off like a modern-day version of Eliza Doolittle: a little more deliberate, a little brasher and a lot more Zeitgeist. A particular banter between student and professor might only be appreciated by German-speaking audiences but it is a hell of a lot of fun:

Pohl: “You are Dieter Bohlen.” (a reference to an obnoxious German music producer and casting show juror)

Naima: “Dieter!”

Pohl: “Right, Dieter.”

Naima: “No way am I Dieter Bohlen!”

Pohl: “Oh yes, these are the rules that I set.

Naima: “Okay, then you are Bushido,” (referencing a German rap-star who is known for being a bully)

Pohl: “What is a bushido?”

At least, here Austrians and Germans can agree on laughing about the same joke.