Potter Pushes June Cinema Admissions To 14.7 Million
UK Cinema admissions soared during June, totalling 14.7 million, to score a year on year increase of 57% and the highest figure on record since 1969.
The new figures mean that after a sluggish start to the year, January to June 2004 is now up 5.6% on the same period during 2003.
The total equates to an average of 3.43 million cinema-goers per week last month, due mainly to the release of the latest Harry Potter movie. Harry Potter & the Prizoner of Azkaban grabbed media and public attention, storming in to the number one spot and taking £36.9 million by the end of the month.
In addition, the film achieved the biggest single day grossing with £5.03 million on its opening day, the highest Friday grossing for a film at £3.3 million, as well as the largest three-day opening with takings of £11.5 million between Monday and Wednesday.
Elsewhere, disaster epic The Day After Tomorrow, released in May, continued to perform well at the box office. The film took £14.6 million over the month and looked set to claim a place in the UK annual top ten.
Also released in May, the much-hyped Troy featured an all star cast including Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom and Eric Bana. It maintained its presence in the Top Five, taking £6 million over the course of the month.
Perhaps the best performance came from children’s animated title Shrek 2. Despite not opening until early July, previews of the high-profile sequel helped catapult the film into fourth place for the month, raking in £5.6 million.
| Top Ten Films At The UK Box Office During June | ||
| 1 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (PG) | £36.9m |
| 2 | The Day After Tomorrow (12A) | £14.6m |
| 3 | Troy (15) | £6.0m |
| 4 | Shrek 2 (U) | £5.6m |
| 5 | Mean Girls (12A) | £3.5m |
| 6 | Van Helsing (12A) | £1.3m |
| 7 | The Ladykillers (15) | £0.9m |
| 8 | Bad Education (15) | £0.6m |
| 9 | The Notebook (12A) | £0.5m |
| 10 | Jersey Girl (12A) | £0.4m |
| Source: CAA |
Commenting on the latest figures, Christine Costello, vice president of the CAA, said: “With such a strong performance over quarter two – 19% up year on year – cinema is well positioned for the second half. July and August alone are set to be bumper months with The Stepford Wives, King Arthur, I Robot, Catwoman and The Terminal just to name a handful. All in all the year continues to gain impressive momentum and deliver massive opportunities to advertisers.”
Last month saw the CAA reveal the power of the Harry Potter franchise, boosting box office ratings for May, despite being released late in the month (see Harry Potter Magic Yields Record Cinema Revenues).
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