UK movie takings 'increase by 50%'

UK films pulled in £1.65 billion worldwide last year, up a massive 50% on the previous 12 months, figures show.

The UK Film Council said the last decade has also seen a 50% increase in UK box office takings - while July 2007 was the biggest single month of cinema-going in Britain for almost 40 years.

The Council put last summer's stampede down to the popularity of Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, The Simpsons Movie and Transformers.

UK films accounted for more than one in four cinema tickets sold in the UK - or 29% of the total UK box office, up from 19% in 2006.

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix was the biggest film of the year at the UK box office earning more than £49 million, with Atonement, Hot Fuzz and Mr Bean's Holiday other big British hits.

Together, the 20 biggest UK films grossed £244 million at the UK box office in 2007, an increase of 62% on 2006 when it was £151 million.

Internationally, UK films took £1.65bn worldwide, equal to 700 million admissions across the globe and an increase of 50% on 2006's figure of £1.1bn.

The Council's Statistical Yearbook contains the figures which lift the lid on film-going in 2007.

UK admissions were up 4% on 2006 and reversing a two-year decline, while box office receipts rose by 8%. This contrasted to other European countries which recorded a fall in ticket sales - Germany and Spain were down 8% on admissions while France slipped 6%.

Film fans had a greater choice of films - 516 films were released, a 58% increase over the decade, the Council said.