End Of Year News Round-Up: Cinema
The year began with good news for the cinema industry as the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA) revealed that 2001 was a record year for both admissions and box office takings. The CAA estimated that the number of cinema screens in the UK, at 3,248, was the highest total since 1959.
The sector also saw advertising revenue increase from £128m in 2000 to £164 million in 2001, a year on year increase of 28%. These figures showed that advertisers used the cinema more than ever before during 2001, with 118 brands spending over £100,000 more during 2001 than during 2000. Channel 4 was the top spending cinema brand, investing just under £6.5 million in the medium over the course of the year, followed by BT Cellnet with £5.8m and Orange with just under 3.5 million. New advertisers included Carling, Colgate, Evian and Dulux.
The beginning of the year saw Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter help UK cinemas to attract the highest number of January visitors since 1972, when The Godfather was the big box office draw. A total of 15 million people visited the cinema during January, up 29% year on year.
The box-office success of Lord Of The Rings continued into February and together with Disney animation, Monsters Inc, helped to bring February’s UK cinema admissions to their highest level since 1969. The final total for the month was 19 million, up 38% year on year.
The start of spring saw the Cinema Advertising Association report that admissions for March were up 43% year on year to 14.3 million, with admissions for the first quarter of 2002 rising 37% on the same period the previous year.
The star-studded rat pack remake, Ocean’s Eleven, took first place at the box office during March, taking £10.2 million, whilst in April, family animation Ice Age took £7 million, followed by home-grown football film, Bend It Like Beckham, which took £6.7 million.
May saw UK cinema admissions rise 20% year on year, largely due to the release of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones. Total admissions for the month were 14 million.
The sunny month of June marked another good spell for the cinema industry and despite the challenge of the World Cup, UK cinema managed its highest June admissions total for 30 years. A total of 12.2 million visits were made to see films such as Spiderman and Star Wars: Episode 2, representing a 30% year on year increase in admissions.
UK cinema admissions continued to blossom in July, totalling 15 million, an increase of 8% on the same period last year. July, which was cinema’s most successful month since 1971, saw an average of 3.38 million visits a week to films such as Minority Report, Scooby-Doo and Austin Powers: Goldmember.
However, August brought bad news for the industry, with only 15.9 million visiting the cinema during the month, down 2.2 million on the same period the previous year.
UK cinema admissions for September remained unchanged year on year, totalling 10.6 million. Mel Gibson’s blockbuster, Signs, was the highest grossing film of the month, taking £11.2 million and helping the average number of weekly cinema admissions to reach 2.4 million. The Bourne Identity staring Matt Damon was also a box office success, grossing £6.7 million in September.
The October holiday period saw cinema admissions remain almost the same year on year, although younger audiences were drawn in during the half-term and family film, Lilo and Stitch, topped the monthly box office, taking £10.7 million.
If recent press reports are to be believed 2002 will end on a positive note for cinema, following the success of the second Lord Of The Rings film, The Two Towers. The film is understood to be streaking ahead of the latest Bond instalment, Die Another Day and the second Harry Potter film, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets.
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