Kids Films Dominate Box Office In 2004

Kids films dominated last years box office with Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Incredibles and Shark Tale collectively bringing in £143.9 million and providing advertisers with unique promotional oportunities.

Shrek 2 was the year’s largest grossing film, clocking up box office takings of £48.1 million, followed closely by J.K Rowling’s blockbuster Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which grossed £46 million. The much anticipated sequel, Bridget Jones; The Edge of Reason took third position coming in at an impressive 34.9 million, dominating the cinema box office in November and taking a huge £7.1 million in its opening weekend.

The third film of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Return of The King, grossed 27.4 million throughout 2004, grabbing an impressive fourth place, considering it was launched at the end of 2003. Pixar’s The Incredibles took fifth overall place in 2004, grossing a total of £27.1 million, £6.3 million of which was taken on its opening weekend.

A recent Advertising Association survey of advertising expenditure revealed an impressive performance by the cinema advertising industry, increasing ad spend by 23.1% following declines in the first two quarters of the year to become the fastest growing medium between July and September. The increase was due mainly to the bumper crop of children’s films released in the latter half of 2004, with numerous high-profile releases drawing young audiences to the silver screen (see Cinema Ad Spend Rises As Kids Films Prove Successful).

Spiderman 2 continued the trend for children’s films success, making a respectable £26.7 million during its cinema run and grossing £25.4 million during the third quarter of the year. Disaster movie The day After Tomorrow was sixth in the top ten movies, taking £25.2 million, while Dreamworks latest animated film Shark Tale brought in £22.7 million.

Brad Pitt’s epic Troy and Will Smith’s latest Si-Fi film I Robot both took £18 million, giving them joint tenth position out of 2004 cinema box office hits.

The latest figures released from the Cinema Advertising Association (CCA) reflect the string of high profile releases this year and follow the dramatic increase in cinema adspend seen in November (see Cinema Adspend Rises By 63% In November).

Amongst the big spenders on cinema advertising in November were satellite giants BSkyB, which spent £1.3 million on the medium and mobile operators Orange, who spent £1.1 million with their out-of-reel sponsorship. FMCG giants Proctor and Gamble also spent a impressive £898,000 on the medium in November.

CAA: 020 7534 6363

Recent Stories from NewsLine Sky Boosts Freeview Profile With 24 Premiere Sky Secures Buena Vista For Pub Advert Takeover First Results From BARB’s Lifestyle Survey Published

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive