Hannibal Reaps Success At Box Office

Cinema admissions during February reached a high of 13.8m, fuelled by the success of Hannibal. An average of 3.45m people visited the cinema each week during last month, an increase of 9.5% compared to January (see January Cinema Admissions Show 9.5% Increase Year On Year).

Admissions were down year on year however due to the huge success of Toy Story 2. Released in February 2000 it was the highest grossing film last year (see Cinema Admissions For February Break Box Office Records).

The opening weekend of Hannibal broke box office records, taking the highest earnings for an 18 certificate film and tripling the opening of its prequel, Silence of the Lambs (see Hannibal Smashes UK Box Office Records).

February also saw the release of What Women Want, which was the second highest-grossing film of the month, taking £13.5m. 102 Dalmatians, The Emperor’s New Groove and Cast Away were also high earners.

March is predicted to be 5% up year on year with the continued success of Hannibal and the release of Chocolat and Miss Congeniality boosting box office sales. The Cinema Advertising Association is predicting that cinema admissions will reach 148m during 2001, an increase of 4% year on year.

Debbie Chalet, president of the CAA, said: “This year there are a great deal of films surrounded by enormous hype and publicity. Hannibal was one of these films and it has done exceptionally well and in some way surpassed the hype.”

CAA: 020 7534 6363