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UK films take 7% global box office share in 2009

UK films took a 7% ($2bn) share of the global box office in 2009, in a year when global box office receipts increased by 8% year on year (to $29.9bn).

London, 25 March 2010

UK films took a 7% ($2bn) share of the global box office in 2009, in a year when global box office receipts increased by 8% year on year (to $29.9bn).

UK inward investment films (UK films wholly or partly financed by US studios but qualifying as British through the Cultural Test – i.e. using UK cast, crew, locations, facilities, post-production and often with UK source material) earned 4.4% of the worldwide box office in 2009, thanks in no small part to the success of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Sherlock Holmes, whilst UK independent films took a 2.3% share of global revenues, with Slumdog Millionaire grossing $327m alone.

Commenting on the figures, John Woodward, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council, said: "It's always tempting to look for trends in statistics, but this isn't really possible when we look at UK films' share of the global box office. That's because these figures can fluctuate quite significantly every year thanks to only one or two massive films, like Mamma Mia or the latest James Bond. So, whilst it's disappointing to see the share drop in 2009, we're anticipating a bounce-back next year, thanks mainly to the higher number of big event films made in the UK during 2009."

The full report, UK films international box office share 2009, can be found at:

http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/media/pdf/0/8/UK_films_international_market_share_2009_-_Final_report.pdf

For more information, please contact:

Oliver Foster, Head of Press and Public Affairs
T: 020 7861 7508
M: 07920 560509
E: oliver.foster@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk

Notes to Editors

The lower UK market share in 2009 can be explained by the reduced number of UK inward investment films in the marketplace compared to 2008, when The Dark Knight, Quantum of Solace and Mamma Mia! dominated the worldwide box office. However, with a larger number of inward investment titles being made in 2009, we anticipate an increase in UK share in 2010.

Table 1: UK films global market share, 2002-2009

Source: MPAA, Screen Digest, UK Film Council
Data for 2007 and 2008 updated since publication of the UK Film Council 2009 Statistical Yearbook

The highest-grossing UK film of 2009 was the sixth instalment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which earned $934 million worldwide (Table 2). Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire grossed $327 million in 2009 and its lifetime earnings now stand at approximately $377 million. Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, a late December release, grossed $191 million in 2009 but has now earned almost $500 million worldwide.

Table 2: Top 10 UK films worldwide, 2009

Source: UK Film Council
*still on international theatrical release as at 25 March 2010
(I) = independent film

Table 3 presents UK films' market share in a selection of international territories. UK films had a 6.6% share of the world's largest theatrical market, the USA and Canada, in 2009. Market share was at a similar level in France and Germany but slightly higher at the Spanish box office (7.2%). In Latin America, the figures ranged from 6.1% in Brazil to 8.5% in Chile while UK releases accounted for 9.7% of the Australian and 13.6% of the New Zealand markets.

Table 3: UK market share in selected international markets, 2009

Source: UK Film Council analysis of Rentrak EDI data

Notes

1. The worldwide gross box office of UK film is calculated from a variety of sources including the box office tracking company Rentrak EDI, the Independent Film and Television Alliance and trade publications (primarily Screen International and Variety).
2. Figures are based on gross box office for UK films earned in 2009 and do not include grosses carried over from 2008 or revenue earned into 2010.
3. Country of origin is allocated by the UK Film Council Research and Statistics Unit. For the purposes of this analysis, a UK film is one which is certified as such by the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport under Schedule 1 of the Films Act 1985, via the Cultural Test, under one of the UK's official co-production agreements or the European Convention on Cinematographic Coproduction; a film which has not applied for certification but which is obviously British on the basis of its content, producers, finance and talent; or (in the case of a re-release) a film which met the official definition of a British film prevailing at the time it was made or was generally considered to be British at that time. Most UK films in the analysis (including the major UK/USA films) fall into the first group – films officially certified as British.

UK FILM COUNCIL (www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk)

• The UK Film Council is the Government-backed lead agency for film in the UK, supporting the UK film industry, celebrating UK film culture and nurturing UK film talent at home and abroad. 
• Since its creation in 2000 the UK Film Council has backed more than 900 films, shorts and features, which have won over 300 awards and entertained more than 200 million people around the world.
• Its support develops new filmmakers, funds exciting new British films and gets a wider choice of films to audiences throughout the UK. It also invests in training British talent, promoting Britain as an international filmmaking location and raising the profile of British films abroad. In addition, it funds the British Film Institute.
• Films backed by the UK Film Council include Fish Tank, Bright Star, Man on Wire, In the Loop, Bend it like Beckham, The Constant Gardener, Gosford Park, Happy-Go-Lucky, Red Road, St Trinian's, This is England, Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland, Vera Drake and The Wind That Shakes the Barley.
• Current UK Film Council funding initiatives include:
  • the world's first Digital Screen Network, which has invested in 240 digital screens in cinemas across the country, increasing film choice, bringing the 3D experience to a wider audience, and ensuring the UK has more digital screens than any other European country;
  • over 200 film societies and independent regional film venues;
  • UK film festivals, including the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival and the Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival;
  • working with Skillset, the UK skills and training industry body for the creative industries, to enable almost 7000 people to further their filmmaking careers;
  • giving over 20,000 young people the opportunity to get involved in filmmaking through First Light Movies and Mediabox;
  • sponsoring the pilot and now the current rollout of FILMCLUB to thousands of schools, introducing new generations of children to the best of British and international cinema.

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