Cinema Gets Off To A Good Start In 2003

Cinema admissions for January reached 16.3 million, which equates to an average of 3.67 million cinema visits a week, according to the latest figures from the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA).

Admissions were up by 8% year on year, making January 2003’s total the largest recorded for that month since 1971.

The second instalment of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Two Towers, continued to attract huge audiences throughout January and took twice as much at the box office as its nearest rival, 8 Mile.

Eminem’s semi-autobiographical film was the second most popular movie in January, despite being released fairly late in the month.

Martin Scorsese’s long awaited epic, Gangs Of New York, was the third most popular film of the month, taking £8.7 million in 3 weeks. It is expected that the film will rank highly in February after being nominated for 9 Oscars, including best picture and best director.

Commenting on the figures, Debbie Chalet, president of the CAA, said: “It is a very encouraging to start the New Year with such a strong performance. We are predicting that 2003 will deliver 182 million cinema admissions, which will be the highest figure since 1971. We are confident we will achieve this figure for a variety of reasons, primarily due to the strength and breadth of films due for release this year.”

Cinema admissions for 2002 were the highest in 30 years, reflecting a 13% year-on-year increase, according to the CAA (see Cinema Admissions Up 13% In 2002).

CAA: 0207 534 6363

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