Britain loves film and the world loves our films

July 19, 2007

Source: UK Film Council

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Britain is a nation of film lovers with box office takings up 56% in the last ten years; British films are popular overseas with exports at an eleven year high; and British creative talent is in demand across the world, according to a new report published today by the UK Film Council.

Compiled by the UK Film Council’s Research and Statistics Unit, the report presents the most comprehensive picture of the British film industry in 2006 covering everything from cinema-going and audience taste, to exhibition and exports. 

The Statistical Yearbook 2006 reveals that the British love watching films.  The total audience for film on television was 3.3 billion.  Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl was the most popular drawing in 9.5 million viewers for BBC1, around one-sixth of the entire UK population.

UK box office takings jumped 56% in ten years from £489 million in 1997 to £762 million in 2006, although 2006 was 1% down on 2005.  Casino Royale was the top performer in 2006 taking £55.5 million at UK cinemas.  115 million film DVDs were rented (online DVD rental was a major growth area) and 163 million film DVDs were sold.

The UK punches well above its weight as the third largest filmed entertainment market in the world, after the US and Japan, with revenues of $6.6 billion in 2005.  UK films were seen by millions around the world taking $2.2 billion at the global box office - approximately 500 million admissions.  The Da Vinci Code was the strongest UK film at the worldwide box office grossing $758 million.

UK film exports grew by 65% between 2003 and 2005.  They jumped to £967 million in 2005 (up from £633 million in 2003) with a trade surplus of £163 million (£95 million in 2003), the highest in 11 years.  The US is the largest market for UK film exports, accounting for 61% in 2005 followed by Europe taking 19%.

British creative talent has enjoyed considerable global success.  Stories created by UK writers dominated the global box office over the last five years. 

Thirty-one of the top 200 films at the worldwide box office (2001-2006) were based on stories and characters created by British writers and earned more than $13 billion.  Writers include JK Rowling (Harry Potter films), JRR Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings), CS Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) Patrick O’Brian (Master and Commander). British directors have directed 19 of these top 200 films and British actors appeared in more than half of them.  Ridley Scott was the most frequent director and Orlando Bloom and Sir Ian McKellen the most prolific actors.  

Other findings in the Statistical Yearbook include:

• There is more choice at the cinema than ever before.  505 films were released at UK cinemas in 2006 compared with 327 in 1998 – a 54% increase.  One in five was a UK production.  
• The top 20 UK films grossed £151 million at the UK box office - a share of 19%.  
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the highest grossing UK film of all time.  
• Cinema-goers tastes are broadening.  Box office takings for films ranked 51 to 150 and 151 onwards have increased.  
• 171 foreign language films were released in 2006 (33.9% of all films) in 29 languages and took £29.8 million at the UK box office.  
• The top four foreign language films in 2006 were Volver (Spain), Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (India) and Hidden (France).  
• The majority of the theatrical audience is young (nearly half under the age of 25) and the number of older people going to the cinema has doubled in the last decade from 19 million to 38 million.  
• Women’s favourite films at the cinema in 2006 were The Devil Wears Prada; The Queen; The Holiday; Brokeback Mountain; and The Break-Up.  
• Men preferred United 93, V for Vendetta, Match Point, Borat and X Men 3.  
• The top 3 UK films on TV in 2006 were Calendar Girls (8 million), Mrs Henderson Presents (7 million), Love Actually (5.5 million).  British films attract about 660 million viewing occasions on TV about 10 per person per year.  
• The value of film to broadcasters was approximately £1.07 billion in 2006.  
• The UK has the highest number of digital screens in Europe at 148 followed by Germany with 105.  
• The UK had 3,440 screens in 697 cinemas in 2006, 83 more than in 2005.  As of October 2006, there were 746 community cinema providers operating in the UK.  
• The number of traditional screens rose for the first time in a decade (904 in 2005 to 928 in 2006) as did the number of rural screens (rising from 95 in 2005 to 105 in 2006). 
• London had the highest number of cinema admissions in the UK, over 25% (1 in 4 in London) and 39.8 million admissions. 
• Local film societies attracted more than 225,000 admissions.
• Employment has increased by a third over the past decade.  42,230 people worked in the film and video industry in 2005/06.

John Woodward, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council said: “The British film industry is in rude health.  Film remains one of the most popular forms of entertainment in this country, exports are up, UK films are winning top awards and British creative talent including writers, directors and actors are in demand around the world and achieving great success. 

“However, there are a number of challenges ahead particularly the opportunities offered by the new digital world which requires the film industry to work in new ways; the growing threat of piracy, particular online piracy; and increasing competition from abroad.”

Creative Industries Minister Margaret Hodge said: "The UK film industry is thriving, with huge audiences worldwide flocking to see British movies. We should be proud of the great successes of the last year with the award triumphs of The Queen, The Wind that Shakes the Barley and The Last King of Scotland demonstrating that UK film commands critical respect, as well as a healthy share of the global film market."

The Research and Statistics Unit (RSU) provides research data and market intelligence to anyone with an interest in UK film and film in the UK. Research enquiries should be directed to the RSU: +44 (0)20 7861 7940, rsu@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk.

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