Phantom Menace Chases Box Office Record

Today marks the release of arguably one of the most eagerly anticipated films of all time – George Lucas’ Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Released just before the mid-August peak that has characterised cinema admissions patterns over the past decade, the film is expected to break all records.

The cinema industry has been witness to some outstanding films in terms of takings over the last few years and since 1995 the top films each year have become bigger and bigger. Independence Day was the top grossing film in the UK in 1996, taking £37 million at the box office – way ahead of its closest competitor that year, Toy Story, which brought in £22.2 million. 1998’s Titanic, the biggest grossing film ever at £69 million, earned nearly twice as much as Independence Day.

Actual cinema admissions have remained fairly stable over the last few years, generally growing steadily since the mid-eighties. They peaked during 1997 at over 138 million and fell off slightly during 1998. The growth in cinema audiences since the ’80s has brought with it an increased interest from advertisers: ad revenue for the medium has soared, quadrupling from £22 million in 1987 to £88 million in 1997.

Carlton Screen Advertising estimates that the new Star Wars movie will achieve 9 million admissions in its first 6 weeks of release, taking around £35 million at the box office. In the US, the film took $28.5 m (£17.8m) in its first 24 hours, beating the record set by The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997, which took $26m (£16.3 m) in its first day. There is little doubt that The Phantom Menace’s gross takings will surpass those of any previous blockbuster.

This article also appears in the media section of today’s Times.