Q1 06 Cinema Admissions Bolstered Year On Year

Cinema admissions for Q1 2007 reached 39 million, a rise of more than 6% year on year, according to the Cinema Advertising Association.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s spoof action flick, Hot Fuzz, was reportedly the biggest hit at the cinema during a particularly healthy quarter for admissions. Since going on general release on Valentine’s Day, the latest film the Big Train and Shaun of the Dead masterminds earned £20.4 million at the box office.

Ben Stiller’s turn as a security guard in Night at the Museum was also well-received by UK audiences, recording £16.8 million in admissions.

The big screen adaptation of the much-loved children’s book Charlotte’s Web, released in time for February’s school half-term, brought the voices of Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi and John Cleese to millions. The film earned £10.7 million over the quarter.

Blockbuster 300, based on Frank Miller’s epic graphic novel, was the top performing film of March, which saw admissions up 12.7% compared to March 2006. Zack Snyder’s retelling of The Battle of Thermopylae with blood, guts and six-packs recorded an impressive £8.4 million at the box office.

The top three categories for advertising spend in cinema during the quarter were Motors (£5.5 million), Computers (£4.3 million) followed by Drink (£3.8 million).

Orange was the highest spending brand over the period, followed by Apple Computers in second and the COI in third.

Mike-Hope Milne, sales director at Pearl & Dean, said: “These figures represent a very strong quarter for cinema admissions. With such a positive start to the year, we are expecting this trend to continue into the summer with high profile blockbusters such as Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Transformers and Ocean’s Thirteen.”

Adam Mills, sales director at Carlton Screen Advertising, added: “This quarter’s performance is a very encouraging start to cinema’s Magnificent 2007: a year of epic movies pulling in booming numbers of engaged, attentive and captivated audiences.”

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