Cinema Set For Record Year, Despite October Falls

Cinema admissions saw a year on year fall of 3.9% to 13.4 million during October, but the Cinema Advertising Association is said to be confident that admissions for the year as a whole could reach 150 million, the highest since 1972. The success of the opening weekend of Harry Potter this month seems to support this (see Potter Performs Online And Box Office Magic), as does media interest in Lord of the Rings, which will also launch before the end of the year.

The biggest box office hit of last month was the sequel American Pie 2. This took £4.7m in its opening wekend and went on to take £14.6m – more than the total box office takings for the original American Pie– over the following three weeks.

Debbie Chalet, CAA president, described the year, which has seen a 4% rise in admissions so far, as “record breaking”. She continued: “The ‘event movies’ are bringing more and more people to the cinema. There are films that appeal to the young and the old, but we as a medium can still deliver 15-34s with sequel films like American Pie 2.”

CAA: 020 7534 6363

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