Sensational animals are the new rulers of the German charts. The ticket to paradise flew audiences to a close second place. And there is not so much to “smile” about for the same horror film that is on top of the US box.

Unusually cold and wet weather contributed to one of the best German debuts of the 2020 year: Die Schule der magischen Tiere 2 (The School of Magical Animals 2). It also happens to be the tenth-best start for a German-made film since the beginning of the pandemic.

Directed by Sven Unterwaldt based on the books by Margit Auer and starring Marleen Lohse, the main focus of this fantasy fairy tale is on love and jealousy. Heartthrob Jo is interested in Ida, but the bitchy Helene comes up with very creative ways to derail the budding romance, using the shy Anna-Lena whose magical animal is chameleon Casper, who loves to be invisible but knows that he better shine in all colors in this scenario. He helps Anna-Lena to get the lead role in a school play that Helene was clamoring for. Jo, on the other hand, is not so lucky with his animalistic alter ego: his cool braggart of a penguin whose name is Juri wants to play a matchmaker between Jo and Helene. The kids got older and so did the subject matter: while the first film dealt with a thief, this one is all about teenage angst.

In 741 cinemas, the sequel of last year’s most successful German release sold a sensational 440.000 tickets and brought € 3,25 million in only four days.

Ticket ins Paradies (Ticket to Paradise) with Clooney and Roberts came in at an impressive second place in its fourth week.

The number three spot is Smile, a sci-fi-horror thriller that debuted at number one on the US charts. Sosie Bacon (Kevin and Kyra’s daughter) stars as Dr. Rose Cotter, a therapist, who learns about a patient’s visions and then kills herself in front of her. This is only the beginning of horrible occurrences because now Rose starts seeing demonic, grinning people everywhere. The directorial debut of Parker Finn is the feature film adaption of his award-winning short from 2020, Laura Hasn’t Slept.

Avatar – Aufbruch nach Pandora came in fourth, followed by another new and German release, Tausend Zeilen (A Thousand Lines). Michael Herbig directs and Elyas M’Barek stars in the true story of Hamburg journalist Claas Relotius who completely invented his articles and won awards for them until one of the biggest media scandals blew up in his face.

Don’t Worry Darling, which slipped three spots, thereby also pushing Minions 2 – Auf der Suche nach dem Mini Boss (Minions 2 – In Search for the Mini Boss) into seventh and Gesang der Flusskrebse (Where the Crawdads Sing) into eighth place.

German drama Mittagsstunde (Noon Hour), came in ninth, and Top Gun: Maverick finished in the German top ten.

Austria’s charts resemble Germany’s with only a few differences: Chase – Nichts hält ihn auf (Last Seen Alive) is in sixth place and DC League of Super-Pets in eighth while Tausend Zeilen (A Thousand Lines) came in tenth.