UK cinema admissions increased by 8% year on year during August to more than 17 million as a string of high profile sequels drew in the summer crowds.
The latest figures from the Cinema Advertising Association show that cinema admissions totalled 3.86 million a week during August, despite the climax of the unseasonably hot British summertime.
The number one film for August was action adventure Pirates Of The Caribbean, which benefited from the pulling power of its main stars, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. The film became the ninth highest opening movie of the year taking £3.2 million in its first weekend and £18.6 million across the month as a whole.
However, it was follow up films which dominated August’s box office chart as Arnold Schwarzenegger put his political ambitions on hold to star in Terminator 3. The film gained the fourth biggest opening of the year taking £5.03 million in its first weekend and finishing the month with £17.7 million.
Spy Kids 3D managed to cash in on the school holidays to take £5.8 million during August and Legally Blonde 2 took £5.1 million during the same period. The latest instalment of the slap-stick teen comedy American Pie 3: The Wedding came fourth in last month’s box office chart taking an impressive £12.4 million in just two weeks.
| Top Ten Box Office Draws During August |
| Pirates Of The Caribbean |
£18.6m |
| Terminator 3 |
£17.7m |
| American Pie 3: The Wedding |
£12.4m |
| Spy Kids 3D |
£5.8m |
| Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde |
£5.1m |
| Tomb Raider 2 |
£3.6m |
| Rugrats Go Wild |
£2.5m |
| Freddy Vs Jason |
£2.2m |
| Piglet’s Big Movie |
£2.2m |
| Veronica Guerin |
£1.8m |
| Source: CAA |
August’s school holidays ensured a strong performances from family films with three releases making it into the top ten for the month. In addition to Spy Kids 3, both Rugrats Go Wild and Piglet’s Big Movie enjoyed strong box office takings.
Commenting on the figures, Christine Costello, vice president of the CAA, said “The impressive line up of film product in August has had a definite impact on admissions, bringing us back to a position of strong year-on-year growth.”
She continued: “And the biggest films of the year are still to come, including two that are destined to make the all-time top ten. Disney’s Pixar-animated Finding Nemo has become the biggest grossing film of the year to date in the US and is the highest earning animation of all time. This, plus a host of other hot releases including the final Lord Of The Rings film guarantee that 2003 will finish with a bang.”
CAA: 0207 534 6363
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