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Cinema Achieves Highest Admissions In 25 Years In 1999

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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