Cinema Admissions Slip In February
Cinema admissions for February dropped by 21% year on year to 15.03 million, which equates to an average of 3.76 million cinema visits a week, according to the latest official figures.
The Cinema Advertising Association (CAA) claims that the dramatic year on year decline in overall admissions is due to February 2002 being the highest month on record since 1969, with the release of films such as Monsters Inc. and Ocean’s Eleven proving particularly successful for the industry.
However, February 2003 saw the highest weekly average of cinema visits for over twelve months. This was partly due to the release of Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, which was February’s top grossing film, taking just over £11 million at the box office.
Two Weeks Notice, the latest romantic comedy to star Hugh Grant, also performed well, taking £10.3 million in just three weeks. Meanwhile, Chicago continued its strong run at the box-office, taking an additional £6 million during the month.
According to the CAA, 2003 has seen a steady start to the year with total cinema admissions totalling 31.3 million, which represents a drop of 8.1% on the first two months of 2002.
Christine Costello, vice president of the CAA, commented: “With February 2002 achieving the highest monthly admissions level in what proved to be a record breaking year, it was always going to be difficult to match this in February 2003. However, year to date admissions now stand at 31.3 million and with such a strong line up of films still to be released over the coming months, cinema is still on course to top the 180 million mark”.
The CAA is confident that cinema admissions for the summer will be up significantly. It points to the raft of sequels released later this year which include X-Men 2, Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle and The Matrix sequel.
CAA: 0207 534 6363
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