Lord Of The Rings Is King Of The Box Office
The third instalment of the epic Lord Of The Rings trilogy helped push cinema admissions for January to 15.3 million in what was an otherwise slow month for the industry.
The latest figures from the Cinema Advertising Association show that admissions averaged 3.5 million per day during January, a decline of 6% on the previous year, which saw the busiest January since 1971.
According to the CAA, Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King attracted £22.2 million from audiences last month to top the list of box office successes. Its closest competitor was The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise, which came in a distant second with £9.3 million in takings.
Trilogies proved popular overall at the box office in January, with Scary Movie 3 taking £5.8 million during the month to secure third place in the chart, despite being released late in the month.
Commenting on the figures for January, Debbie Chalet, president of the CAA, said: “Cinema admissions in January stayed high. The last Lord Of The Rings looks like being the most successful of the three and the breadth of films in January’s top ten already signals healthy cinema audiences for 2004.”
| Top Ten Films At The UK Box Office During January | ||
| 1 | Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (12A) | £22.2m |
| 2 | The Last Samurai (15) | £9.3m |
| 3 | Scary Movie 3 (15) | £5.8m |
| 4 | Peter Pan (PG) | £5.7m |
| 5 | Cold Mountain (15) | £5.4m |
| 6 | Love Actually (15) | £5.1m |
| 7 | Lost In Translation (15) | £4.9m |
| 8 | Stuck On You (12A) | £3.3m |
| 9 | Freaky Friday (PG) | £2.9m |
| 10 | Paycheck (12A) | £2.2m |
| Source: CAA | ||
The coming year will see more epic movies in the wake of Lord Of The Rings with Troy, King Arthur and Alexander promising yet more sword swinging action for film lovers. Harry Potter is also expected to return this year, along with other childrens’ favourites including Shrek and Scooby Doo.
Cinema Advertising Association: 0207 534 6363
Recent Related Stories from NewsLine Carlton Secures IKEA For Cinema Campaign Carlton Secures Smirnoff For New IMAX Cinema Package ITV To Keep Carlton Film Assets Following Merger
MediaTel.co.uk subscribers can access full details on admission figures, audience profiles and box office figures by selecting ‘Cinema’ from the drop down menu at the top of the page.