2002 was a bumper year for cinema with box office revenue growing by 10% year on year, according to the latest figures from trade publication, Screen Finance.
Research shows that box office takings topped £800 million last year, with 350 film releases, compared to a box office total of £727 million from 321 releases in 2001.
Tim Adler, editor of Screen Finance, commented: “The top ten films contributed nearly 40% of the box office total. The top grossing films also reveal cinema’s growing dependence on franchises, given the continued success of films such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, Die Another Day and Lord of the Rings. In fact, the two Harry Potter and the two Lord of the Rings films combined to bring in £124 million – or 15% of total box office takings in 2002.”
| UK Top Ten Films Of 2002, By Box Office Takings |
| |
|
| Film |
Takings (£m) |
| Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets |
48.14 |
| Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring |
39.03 |
| Monsters Inc |
37.68 |
| Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones |
37.42 |
| Die Another Day |
31.39 |
| Spider-Man |
28.72 |
| Lord Of The Rings: Two Towers |
26.17 |
| Ocean’s Eleven |
24.68 |
| Austin Powers In Goldmember |
23.42 |
| Men In Black II |
22.16 |
| Source: Screen Finance, January 2003 |
The second instalment in the Harry Potter saga was the highest grossing film of the year for the second year running with a 6% market share. In 2001 the first film, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, topped the charts, grossing over £53 million in the UK.
The two Lord Of The Rings films also scored highly, with the first instalment, The Fellowship Of The Ring, taking second place in the chart during 2002. The second part of the trilogy, The Two Towers, also featured in the top ten, despite only having been released on 18 December.
Screen Finance claims that the market was saturated by US distributors and Fox took the lead with an 18.03% market share, having released the latest instalments of the Star Wars and Bond franchises. Independent Entertainment was in second place with 16.78%, followed by Buena Vista with a 15.39% market share.
However, in 2002, 43 films wholly-produced in the UK grossed £66,839,345 representing an 8.33% share of the market. This was an 87.8% increase compared with 2001, when 54 wholly UK-produced films grossed just £35,584,510, representing a 4.89% market share.
