chapter_1__the_box_office by Guy Parkinson

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Facts in focus â&#x20AC;˘ UK cinema admissions reached 169.2 million, down 2% on 2009. â&#x20AC;˘ Box ofďŹ ce receipts were ÂŁ988 million, up 5% on 2009. â&#x20AC;˘ 557 ďŹ lms were released for a week or more in the UK and Republic of Ireland. â&#x20AC;˘ UK ďŹ lms, including co-productions, accounted for 21% of releases and 24% of the market by value. â&#x20AC;˘ The top 100 ďŹ lms earned 90% of the gross box ofďŹ ce. â&#x20AC;˘ 3D ďŹ lms accounted for 24% of UK and Republic of Ireland box ofďŹ ce revenues in 2010 (ÂŁ242 million), up from 16% in 2009 and just 0.4% in 2008.

1.1 Admissions Over 169 million cinema tickets were sold in the UK in 2010, which was slightly down (–2.4%) on the 2009 admissions figure. It was the fourth highest total of the last decade and maintains the plateau in admissions which has been apparent since 2002 (Figure 1.1). It was a mixed picture across other major international territories – admissions were also down in the USA (–5.2%), Germany (–13.5%) and Spain (–11.7%) but increased in France (2.7%), Italy (11%) and Russia (19.5%). Figure 1.1 Annual UK admissions, 2001–2010 Million 200

150

100

Source: CAA, Rentrak EDI.

Year

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total admissions (million)

155.9 175.9 167.3 171.3 164.7 156.6 162.4 164.2 173.5 169.2

Source: CAA, Rentrak EDI.

Admissions in January and February 2010 remained roughly consistent with 2009’s strong figures, thanks largely to the continuing pull of two films released in 2009, Avatar, which was to become the highest grossing film of all time, and UK film Sherlock Holmes. The arrival in March of Tim Burton’s 3D version of Alice in Wonderland helped to increase ticket sales by 22% compared with March 2009.

More 3D releases followed in April with Clash of the Titans and How to Train Your Dragon while May saw the release of several blockbusters including Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood as studios cleared their June release schedules in anticipation of the impact of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The most successful release at this time was Sex and the City 2, an example of counterprogramming aimed at attracting female audiences to the cinema during the World Cup season. The dearth of other films with large appeal led to low box office returns in June and monthly admissions figures which were 30% down on the same month in 2009. Nevertheless, with England’s early exit and a new raft of major new releases including Shrek Forever After, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Inception and Karate Kid admissions recovered to over 20 million in July. The year’s biggest hit, Toy Story 3, helped to increase the level of cinema ticket sales in August by over 30% compared with the same month in 2009. A low-key series of releases in September gave way to a diverse autumn release schedule which included significant titles such as Despicable Me, The Social Network and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. However, December admissions were severely affected by a spell of extremely cold weather and heavy snowfall. The fact that Christmas Day fell on a Saturday, the most popular cinema-going day of the week, also contributed to a 25% decline in December admissions. Table 1.1 Monthly UK cinema admissions, 2009–2010 Month

2009 (million)

2010 (million)

% +/– on 2009

January February March April May June July August September October November December Total

14.5 15.0 11.9 13.8 15.8 12.5 20.0 15.5 9.7 13.5 14.9 16.3 173.5

14.6 14.9 14.5 14.7 12.8 8.7 20.3 20.2 10.1 12.9 13.5 12.2 169.2

+0.7 –0.7 +21.8 +6.5 –19.0 –30.4 +1.5 +30.3 +4.1 –4.4 –9.4 –25.2 –2.4

Source: CAA, Rentrak EDI. Note: Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 20

Image: The Ghost courtesy of Optimum Releasing

Chapter 1: The box ofﬁce – 9

Average weekly admissions ranged from 2 million during the World Cup in June to 4.6 million in July and August (Table 1.2). August saw the largest increase in weekly admissions compared with 2009’s 3.5 million, while June and December saw the largest decreases, down from 2.7 million in June 2009 and from 3.7 million in December 2009 to 2.8 million. Table 1.2 Average weekly admissions, 2009–2010

Month

January February March April May June July August September October November December

2009 weekly average (million)

2010 weekly average (million)

3.3 3.7 2.7 3.2 3.6 2.9 4.5 3.5 2.3 3.1 3.5 3.7

3.3 3.7 3.3 3.4 2.9 2.0 4.6 4.6 2.4 2.9 3.1 2.8

Source: CAA, Rentrak EDI.

Table 1.3 shows how the 2009 admissions break down by ISBA TV region, with London accounting for almost a quarter of UK admissions (25%). The pattern of national and regional admissions has remained largely unchanged over the last decade.

10 – BFI Statistical Yearbook 2011

Table 1.3 Cinema admissions by region, 2010 Region

London Midlands Lancashire Southern Yorkshire Central Scotland Wales and West East of England North East Northern Ireland South West Northern Scotland Border Total

Admissions (million)

41.6 23.8 18.1 15.7 14.0 12.1 11.9 11.1 6.4 5.6 4.2 3.6 1.3 169.2

24.6 14.0 10.7 9.3 8.3 7.2 7.0 6.5 3.8 3.3 2.5 2.1 0.8 100.0

Source: CAA, Rentrak EDI. Note: Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Figure 1.2 puts UK admissions in a longer term perspective. Cinema-going increased rapidly during the Second World War, as audiences sought the latest news as well as escapism from the conflict. Ticket sales reached a peak of 1.64 billion in 1946 but then declined steeply throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s as television ownership became commonplace. The introduction of the VCR in the early 1980s had a further negative impact on admissions and the nadir was reached in 1984 with cinema-going levels down to an average of one visit per person per year. However, the introduction of multiplex cinemas to the UK from 1985 onwards reversed the trend and ushered in a decade and a half of steady growth. After a pause from 2003 to 2006, admissions grew again in 2007 to 2009 returning to levels last seen in the early 1970s.

Figure 1.2 Annual UK admissions, 1935–2010

Admissions (million) 1,800.0 4

1,600.0 1,400.0 1,200.0

1,000.0 800.0 6

600.0 400.0

200.0 0.0

1935

Admissions

912.3

1940

1945

1950

1955

1,027.0 1,585.0 1,395.8 1,181.8

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

500.8

326.6

193.0

116.3

101.0

72.0

97.4

114.6

142.5

164.7

169.2

Source: BFI, CAA, Rentrak EDI. Year

Admissions (million)

Year

Admissions (million)

Year

Admissions (million)

Year

Admissions (million)

Year

Admissions (million)

Year

Admissions (million)

Year

1935

912.3

1946

1,635.0

1957

915.2

1968

237.3

1979

111.9

1990

97.4

2001

155.9

1936

917.0

1947

1,462.0

1958

754.7

1969

214.9

1980

101.0

1991

100.3

2002

175.9

1937

946.0

1948

1,514.0

1959

581.0

1970

193.0

1981

86.0

1992

103.6

2003

167.3

1938

987.0

1949

1,430.0

1960

500.8

1971

176.0

1982

64.0

1993

114.4

2004

171.3

1939

990.0

1950

1,395.8

1961

449.1

1972

156.6

1983

65.7

1994

123.5

2005

164.7

1940

1,027.0

1951

1,365.0

1962

395.0

1973

134.2

1984

54.0

1995

114.6

2006

156.6

1941

1,309.0

1952

1,312.1

1963

357.2

1974

138.5

1985

72.0

1996

123.5

2007

162.4

1942

1,494.0

1953

1,284.5

1964

342.8

1975

116.3

1986

75.5

1997

138.9

2008

164.2

1943

1,541.0

1954

1,275.8

1965

326.6

1976

103.9

1987

78.5

1998

135.2

2009

173.5

1944

1,575.0

1955

1,181.8

1966

288.8

1977

103.5

1988

84.0

1999

139.1

2010

169.2

1945

1,585.0

1956

1,100.8

1967

264.8

1978

126.1

1989

94.5

2000

142.5

1.2 Box ofﬁce earnings

According to the CAA/Rentrak EDI, the total UK box office for 2010 was £988 million, up 5% on 2009. This figure covers all box office earnings during the calendar year 2010 for all films exhibited in the UK. The trends in box office takings from 2001 are shown in Table 1.4 and indicate growth of 53% in the period.

Table 1.4 UK box ofﬁce trends, 2001–2010

Year

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Box ofﬁce gross (£ million)

%+/–

Cumulative %

645 755 742 770 770 762 821 850 944 988

– 17.0 –1.7 3.8 0.0 –1.0 7.7 3.5 11.1 4.7

– 17.0 15.0 19.4 19.4 18.1 27.3 31.8 46.4 53.2

Source: CAA, Rentrak EDI.

Chapter 1: The box ofﬁce – 11

1.3 Film releases and box ofﬁce revenues In the UK and Republic of Ireland in 2010, 557 films were released for a week or more, up 11% on 2009. They generated £1,024 million in box office revenues, a fall of 9% on 2009. This figure differs from the £988 million in paragraph 1.2 because it includes revenues generated in 2011 by films released in 2010 and covers the Republic of Ireland as well as the UK, which distributors treat as a single distribution territory. The subsequent analysis in this chapter includes all titles released in 2010 and includes revenue generated in 2011 up to 10 February 2011. As can be seen in Table 1.5, the top 100 films took 90% of the box office, a slight fall from 2009’s figure. The remaining 457 films (82% of all releases) accounted for just 10% of gross revenues. A total of 28 films were released in the 3D format, twice the number released in 2009, and these films accounted for 24% of the UK and Republic of Ireland box office in 2010, up from 16% in 2009 and just 0.4% in 2008. Table 1.5 Summary of results at the UK and Republic of Ireland box ofﬁce, 2006–2010 Releases Combined gross £ million Top 20 films (% of box office) Top 50 films (% of box office) Top 100 films (% of box office)

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

505 845.3 48.1 71.1 88.6

516 933.8 51.2 75.7 91.0

527 934.5 49.6 72.4 90.3

503 1,126.7 48.6 72.9 91.1

557 1,023.6 48.2 71.9 89.7

Source: Rentrak EDI, RSU analysis. Table 1.5 and all subsequent analysis of the theatrical market includes all titles released in 2010. The combined gross reﬂects the territorial gross (that is, including the Republic of Ireland), and includes those titles released in 2010 but also making money into 2011, up to and including 10 February 2011.

Figure 1.3 shows that the share of the top 50 films released in 2010 fell from 84% in 2001 to 72% last year. This reflects the increasing number of releases and a range of strong performances from specialised and domestic films typically earning between £700,000 and £4 million.

12 – BFI Statistical Yearbook 2011

Figure 1.3 Market share percentage of top 50, top 51–150 and rest of films, 2001–2010

Figure 1.4 Gross box office of top 50, top 51–150 and rest of films, 2001–2010

£ million

100

1,200

1,000

5 800 60 600

40 400 7

200 01

% share of top 51–150

% share of top 50

% share of rest

Gross box office 105 top 51–150

132

160

179

182

206

190

226

273

249

Gross box office 628 of top 50

680

634

622

641

600

707

676

821

736

Gross box office of rest

Source: Rentrak EDI, RSU analysis.

Figure 1.4 depicts the increase in box office revenue over the last decade, with the top 50 film releases of 2010 earning £736 million, up 17% since 2001, while those ranked 51–150 earned £249 million in 2010, up 137% since 2001. The 2009 figure includes all revenues for Avatar, which was released in December 2009 but made 71% of its total gross earnings in 2010.

The number of films released in the UK in 2010 by the number of sites at the widest point of release (WPR) is outlined in Table 1.6. A total of 177 films were released at 100 sites or more (32%), while 215 films were released on fewer than 10 sites (39% of all films released). Almost seven out of 10 films released in the UK went out on 99 prints or fewer.

Table 1.6 Number of releases and median box ofﬁce gross by number of sites at widest point of release, 2010 Number of sites at WPR

>500 400–499 300–399 200–299 100–199 10–99 <10 Total

Number

% of releases

Average box ofﬁce (£)

13 51 48 28 37 165 215 557

2.3 9.2 8.6 5.0 6.6 29.6 38.6 100.0

21,183,000 6,944,000 2,915,000 1,079,000 328,000 86,000 6,000 1,838,000

Source: Rentrak EDI, RSU analysis. Notes: Median box ofﬁce rounded to nearest £1,000. Percentages may not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.

Chapter 1: The box ofﬁce – 13

1.4 Country of origin of ﬁlm releases As Table 1.7 indicates, 38% of all films released in the UK were of USA origin (excluding UK co-productions) and these films accounted for 72% of the total box office earnings (down from 81% in 2009). UK films, including co-productions, represented 21% of releases (down from 23% in 2009) and shared 24% of the box office, of which UK independent films earned 5% and UK studio-backed titles 19%. Films whose country of origin lies outside the UK and USA accounted for 41% of releases (up from 35% in 2009) but only 4.2% of earnings (up from 2.4% in 2009). European films represented 18.5% of all releases and 2.1% of revenues while films from India accounted for 1.3% of the box office from 12.7% of the releases. Films from the rest of the world represented just 0.8% of the box office gross from 9.5% of releases. Table 1.7 Country of origin of ﬁlms released in the UK and Republic of Ireland, 2010 Country of origin

USA UK independent films UK studio-backed films* All UK Europe India Rest of the world Total

No. of releases in 2010

% of all releases

2010 box ofﬁce (£ million)

2010 box ofﬁce share (%)

211 108 11 119 103 71 53 557

37.9 19.4 2.0 21.4 18.5 12.7 9.5 100.0

734.5 55.7 190.5 246.1 21.8 13.3 7.8 1,023.6

71.8 5.4 18.6 24.0 2.1 1.3 0.8 100.0

Source: Rentrak EDI, RSU analysis. * ’Studio-backed’ means backed by one of the major US ﬁlm studios. Note: Box ofﬁce gross = cumulative total up to 10 February 2011.

The changes in market share over time by country of origin of films are shown in Figure 1.5. The share of USA and UK studio-backed films over the last decade has stayed around the 90% level, which has meant that the combined share of UK independent films and films from international territories other than the USA has rarely climbed above 10%.

14 – BFI Statistical Yearbook 2011

Table 1.8 UK and non-UK releases by box ofﬁce gross band, 2010

Figure 1.5 Market share by country of origin, 2001–2010 %

Box ofﬁce gross (£ million)

100

>30 20 – 29.99 10 – 19.99 5 – 9.99 1 – 4.99 0.1 – 0.99 Less than 0.1 Total

Rest of the world

0.5

0.8

1.8

0.8

0.7

0.5

0.3

0.2

0.8

India

1.2

1.0

1.1

1.5

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.0

1.3

Europe

1.3

0.7

0.9

0.6

1.6

1.2

1.8

2.3

1.2

2.1

UK independent

3.8

6.5

3.4

3.9

6.9

4.7

6.8

5.7

8.2

5.4

UK releases

Number

% releases

Number

% releases

3 3 14 24 71 96 227 438

0.7 0.7 3.2 5.5 16.2 21.9 51.8 100.0

2 1 6 3 10 21 76 119

1.7 0.8 5.0 2.5 8.4 17.6 63.9 100.0

Source: Rentrak EDI, RSU analysis. Note: Percentages may not sum to 100.0 due to rounding.

21.2 16.1 12.5 19.5 26.2 14.4 21.8 25.4 UK studio-backed* USA

Non-UK releases

8.5 18.6

72.0 73.4 81.6 73.2 63.1 77.1 67.7 65.2 81.0 71.8 12

Source: UK Film Council RSU. * ‘Studio-backed’ means backed by one of the major US film studios. 13

Table 1.8 compares the number of UK films across several gross box office bands with the non-UK output in 2010. The UK is better represented in the over £30 million gross category thanks to the success of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Inception. However, 64% of UK releases earned less than £100,000.

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3 For more information about top films in 2010 see Chapter 2 (page 16) 3 For further details of film distribution in 2010 see Chapter 9 (page 76) 3 For information about weekend/weekday box office performance see Chapter 9, section 9.3 (page 79) 3 For a review of the exhibition sector in 2010 see Chapter 10 (page 82)

Chapter 1: The box ofﬁce – 15