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London, 26 July 2007
UK Consumers Spend £400m on Cinema Tickets in First Half of 2007 as Admissions Rise by 6%

UK consumers made 76.9 million visits to the cinema in the first six months of 2007, spending £396.8 million on their tickets. This was an increase of 6% on cinemagoing in the first half of 2006.

The increase was fuelled by two main factors:

• The outstanding performances of a varied crop of home-grown films including Mr Bean’s Holiday, Hot Fuzz, Miss Potter, The Last King of Scotland and Notes on a Scandal; and
• UK cinemagoers also flocked to see the return of some favourite characters to the big screen, such as Rocky Balboa, Shrek, Ocean’s Thirteen, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and Spider-Man 3 which attracted one million more UK cinema admissions than Spider-Man 2 (2004).

Audiences had a huge choice: 246 films received a UK cinema release in the first half of 2007. Thirty were launched with a premiere. 62 films – more than ever before in a six-month period – were released with digital subtitles and audio description discs.

UK film distributors invested £82.4 million in media advertising in January–June 2007 to launch and sustain their releases, an increase of 4% over the same period of 2006. £34.2 million was spent on TV spots, £28.8 million on outdoor poster panels and £13.6 million on press advertising. Online and radio commercials accounted for the remaining £5.8m.

Film Distributors’ Association Chief Executive, Mark Batey, said: “Coming off such a strong start to the year, this summer’s wonderful line-up is already attracting cinemagoers in record numbers. There really is no better place than the cinema to escape for some quality time. The schedules are jam-packed week in, week out, and it’s intensely competitive all the way, but overall prospects for the year look very encouraging.”

To spur additional cinema visits in July and August 2007, UK film distributors have created a 60-second compilation trailer promoting the whole season – “The ultimate summer of cinema” – which is currently playing on 3,000 screens around the UK. It includes glimpses of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Transformers, The Simpsons Movie, Evan Almighty, The Bourne Ultimatum, Surf’s Up and 27 other titles.

For further information

Mark Batey, Chief Executive, Film Distributors’ Association Ltd.
Tel: 020 7437 4383
Email: mbatey@fda.uk.net

Notes to editors

• The UK is the world’s no. 3 country for cinemagoing by box-office, after the US and Japan.
• Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) is the trade body for the UK’s theatrical film distributors, the companies that release films in cinemas and promote them to audiences. Films distributed by FDA’s 20 member companies account for approximately 97% of UK cinemagoing. More at www.launchingfilms.com.
• FDA’s current generic campaign to promote cinemagoing this summer includes movie supplements in regional newspapers across the UK and mini-magazines delivered by TNT Post direct to households, setting out a broad selection of releases for the summer season.
• FDA research indicates that for every £1 spent at the cinema box-office, an additional £2 is spent on food and drink, transport to/from the cinema, and other leisure activities during the same trip.