Public Servant Lifestyle

The cinema popularity of British films is being mirrored in their TV ratings - with six of the ten most popular films on TV being home-grown hits.

Well-loved characters like Harry Potter and Bridget Jones - and historical epic Troy were the best performing British films at the UK box office in 2004, according to the UK Film Council. There was a 45% increase in the takings of the top 20 British films last year - compared to 2003 - and attendances increased to more than 170 million over the course of the year. Summer blockbusters clearly exerted an influence, with July of 2004 proving the most popular movie-going month, according to the Film Council’s latest Statistical Bulletin.

British films popularity at the box office was also mirrored in their TV ratings, with six of the ten most popular films shown on television being recent British films – that is: UK pictures made within the last eight years.

Films on UK television

The increasing popularity of British films at the box office was mirrored on TV, with six of the top 10 performing films on TV in 2004 being UK certified films. The most watched film was Shrek (US) with 9.5 million viewers, whilst the most popular British film on UK television was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone which drew in 8.4 million viewers.

Of the top ten most watched British films on UK television nine were recent British films, and all ten recorded viewing figures substantially above the average peak time film audience figures for any of the five main terrestrial channels. ITV recorded the best average audience for peak time films in 2004 with 3,213,188 viewers, followed by BBC1 with 3,084,585.

The year saw a drop of 4.4% in the total number of films broadcast on channels 1 to 5, but sizeable increases in the number of recent British films shown on BBC1 (up by 35%), BBC2 (up 220%) and Channel 4 (up by 120%). ITV1 and Five both showed fewer recent British films, recording drops of 25% and 33.3% respectively. Overall, the proportion of recent UK films shown on channels 1 to 5 increased from 2.8% of the total films shown in 2003 to 5.3% in 2004.

UK Film Production 2004

2004 film production levels dropped substantially on 2003’s record year, although 2004 was still the second best year ever for production spending in the UK. There were reductions in both the number of films made (down from 173 in 2003 to 132 in 2004) and the amount spent in the UK on their production (down from £1.157 billion in 2003 to £808 million in 2004).

Of the 85 co-productions - films made involving work in more than one country - which did not involve Hollywood studios, the UK was the major funder of 18 features, a larger proportion than 2003, when the UK was majority funder of 18 of the year’s 99 co-productions.

The most frequent locations for the shooting of non-studio related UK co-productions were the UK (17), France (8), Spain (8), Canada (6), Luxembourg (6), and Germany and Romania (5 each).

Commenting on the figures UK Film Council’s Chief Executive Officer John Woodward said: “Film is a hugely important part of our culture, and going to the cinema continues to be one of the UK’s most popular leisure pursuits. Whilst the success of blockbusters such as Harry Potter’ will always grab the headlines, the increase in box office takings for small to medium sized British films is extremely encouraging and a testament to the depth of talent in our film industry.

“This study shows that there is an undoubted demand to see UK films, not only from cinemagoers but from television viewers as well. Whilst there have been impressive improvements in the number of recent British films being shown on some television channels, there needs to be an equally significant improvement in the amount of money invested in film production, particularly by the BBC.

“As the recent Government Green Paper on the BBC Charter underlined, the BBC needs a proper film investment strategy to ensure that the best British films are shown to a wider television audience. As the prime public service broadcaster, the BBC should lead the way in investing in the production, acquisition, and scheduling of new British films.”

Prepared by the UK Film Council’s Research and Statistics Unit, the Bulletin reveals that the three best performing films at UK cinemas in 2004 were all sequels, with Shrek 2 topping the box office charts – and taking in £48.1 million over the tills. As in 2003 there were three films with UK involvement in the top 10 British box office performers: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at number two took £46.08 million, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason at number three with £36 million, and Troy at number eight with £18 million.

The top 20 British films took £176.18 million between them at the UK box office, a 45% increase compared to 2003’s total of £121.63, with the number of UK films taking more than £3 million at the box office doubling from eight in 2003 to 16 in 2004. Four National Lottery funded films were amongst the top 20: Bride and Prejudice (with £5.17 million), Girl with a Pearl Earring (with £3.84 million), Ladies in Lavender (with £3.16 million) and children’s classic 5 Children and It (bringing in £1.57 million).

2004 Cinema Attendances

The year saw 171.3 million visits to the cinema, up 2.4 % on 2003’s total of 167.3 million. The biggest increases came in June and July, when visits rose by 56% and 48% respectively. As in 2003 the most visits - by TV region - were made in London (44.1 million), the Midlands (23.8 million) and Lancashire (18.5 million), and the fewest in the Border area (1.6 million). The most popular months for cinema going were July (18.4 million visits) and August (17.4 million), and the least popular September (10.2 million) and March (10.7 million);

The UK Film Council is the nation’s Government-backed strategic agency responsible for film. The central aim of the agency is to stimulate a competitive, successful and vibrant UK film industry.

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