Odeon Reports Record Year For UK Cinema

The UK Box Office is celebrating almost 8% growth in takings in 2007, as the popularity of cinema hits a record high in recent years. The news comes as thousands decided to ditch Christmas traditions and instead grab a film and a box of popcorn with family and friends this Boxing Day.

While one in ten planned a trip to the cinema over the Christmas period, the release of I Am Legend took over £2 million on Boxing Day alone – beating recent box office records for a UK opening on this day. ODEON itself welcomed 187,905 guests to its cinemas up and down the country on Boxing Day, a 60% increase on last year.

Likewise New Year revellers chose to nurse their hangovers with a film as the box office saw a growth of 25% compared to New Years Day 2006. With 111 cinemas nationwide, ODEON saw admissions increase by 10% over the two-week Christmas period with a total of 2.4 million opting for a trip to the cinema.

Rupert Gavin, CEO of ODEON and UCI Cinema Group, said: “This is the perfect way to end what has been an extremely strong year for UK cinema. The last weekend in July saw box office records smashed with the release of Transformers and The Simpsons Movie and now thanks to I Am Legend, Enchanted, Golden Compass, St.Trinian’s and Alvin and the Chipmunks we have had our the biggest Boxing Day and New Year’s Day box office.

“Likewise we’re ever optimistic about 2008, which helped by a number of hotly-anticipated films, is set to be another blockbuster year.”

A poll of over 1,200 ODEON film fanatics found that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Indiana Jones are set to be the must-see films of 2008, closely followed by family favourite Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the latest Batman instalment, The Dark Knight , and of course the imminent return of James Bond.

www.odeon.co.uk