Cinema Achieves Highest Admissions In 25 Years In 1999
Cinema achieved its highest ever annual admissions last year, with a total of 139.1 million ticket sales. This represents a 2.9% increase on 1998 admissions which came in at 135.2 million. Box office sales across the year totalled £606.1 million, up 11% on the previous year and rise of 117% over the whole decade, according to figures from ACNielsen EDI compiled by the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA).
Advertising revenue is expected to come in at over £100 million for the first time and may mean that cinema finished the decade as the fastest growing advertising medium. In 1998 cinema took £97 million, which is 1.0% of UK total display advertising.
During 1999, the UK cinema industry also experienced its highest-grossing weekend ever – from 29-31 October admissions totalled £13.0 million. The release of The Blair Witch Project contributed greatly to this figure, taking £5.9 million alone. Also during the year, three films entered the all-time box office records. Star Wars – The Phantom Menace, which grossed £50.8 million took third place; Notting Hill‘s £30.8 million put it in seventh place and Disney’s A Bug’s Life took eighth place, grossing £29.2 million.
A strong second half of the year managed to turn around what was a weak start to 1999, so that overall admissions were up 2.8% on 1998. The month by month figures are shown here:
| 1999 Cinema Admissions Year On Year Comparisons | |||
| Month | 1998 | 1999 | % Change |
| January | 14,530,000 | 10,222,000 | -29.6 |
| February | 15,133,000 | 14,350,000 | -5.2 |
| March | 11,584,000 | 9,944,000 | -14.2 |
| April | 12,136,000 | 10,018,000 | -17.5 |
| May | 8,953,000 | 7,396,000 | -17.4 |
| June | 6,790,000 | 10,992,000 | 61.9 |
| July | 9,864,000 | 14,569,000 | 47.7 |
| August | 13,954,000 | 15,650,000 | 12.2 |
| September | 10,323,000 | 8,725,000 | -15.5 |
| October | 12,777,000 | 13,313,000 | 4.2 |
| November | 10,309,000 | 13,133,000 | 27.4 |
| December | 8,864,000 | 10,747,000 | 21.2 |
| Total | 135,217,000 | 139,059,000 | 2.8 |
June and July were particularly strong months thanks to The Phantom Menace, the biggest-grossing film of the year. The top ten films of the year are shown here:
| Top 10 UK Box Office Successes 1999 | ||
| Release Date | Box Office (£m) | |
| Star Wars – The Phantom Menace | 15/07/99 | 50.9 |
| Notting Hill | 21/05/99 | 30.8 |
| A Bug’s Life | 05/02/99 | 29.3 |
| Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me | 30/07/99 | 25.8 |
| The World Is Not Enough | 26/11/99 | 22.8 |
| Shakespeare In Love | 29/01/99 | 20.4 |
| The Sixth Sense | 05/11/99 | 20.2 |
| The Mummy | 25/06/99 | 17.4 |
| Tarzan | 08/10/99 | 17.4 |
| Matrix | 11/06/99 | 17.3 |
| Source: ACNielsen EDI | ||
Christine Costello, vice president of the CAA, is anticipating another good year: “With a greater variety of film product in 2000, cinema now provides access to more audience segments than ever before. The cinema sales industry last year created targeted packages … which will provide the perfect opportunity for reaching the 25-40 ABC1 audience in a relaxed mode.”
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