“Marina”, the film by Stijn Coninx that tells the story of singer Rocco Granata, broke all records. Last Sunday 1,402. 500 spectators watched “Marina” on first TV, consecrating it as the most watched television film in 20 years, writes Het Nieuwsblad.
The previous television audience record for a film was set by the blockbuster “Titanic”. At the first screening on television in 2001, 1,124,000 Flemish viewers watched the sinking luxury liner. “Marina” breaks the record with 275,000 more viewers, excluding delayed viewers. The film certainly wins a place in the top 20 of the most watched television programs of 2015.
The “Marina” cinema also did very well, with more than half a million visitors. But 1.4 million viewers for a Flemish film on television is a great achievement, recognizes film journalist Ward Verrijcken.
“The record lies in a combination of elements. At the beginning of the Christmas holidays there were many people watching television, especially on Sunday,” Verrijcken told Het Nieuwsblad. “The film is also aimed at a wide audience: Rocco Granata’s story attracts mainly older viewers, while the protagonist Matteo Simoni attracts a younger audience.”
