A long, hot summer and the 2006 World Cup have contributed to the lowest cinema attendance figures for five years, it was revealed last night.
Despite successes for Casino Royale, the latest James Bond film, The Da Vinci Code and animated films such as Happy Feet, just under 157 million people went to the cinema last year, down from 165 million the year before and the lowest since 2001, when 156 million went to the movies.
The Cinema Advertising Association, which released the statistics, nevertheless predicted a strong box-office performance this year, as the new episodes in the ongoing Harry Potter, Spider-Man and Shrek series are released.
Apart from the hot summer and the rival attraction of international football, some Hollywood blockbusters failed to capture the imagination, with Mission Impossible 3 and Superman Returns being successful but not runaway commercial or critical successes.
A spokeswoman for the CAA said: "It is right to say that the hot summer and lack of suitable blockbusters had an effect, as well as the World Cup potentially keeping people away from the cinema. This year looks very promising, however, with the large number of blockbusters in the shape of sequels (Harry Potter, Shrek, Spider Man, and The Bourne Ultimatum) so we expect to see a big uplift again in admissions."
Indeed, 23 sequels will be released in 2007, and multiplex managers are expecting another record year.
Recently, Steve Wiener, chief executive of Cineworld, said: "This year, it is not just the fact that there are so many sequels, but that 15 will be blockbusters. Plus there will be a whole range of new movies, such as The Simpsons and John Travolta as JR Ewing in Dallas The Movie, which is getting people excited."
The CAA also put this year's slump down to the rising popularity of home entertainment systems including larger, flat-screen televisions and movie-on-demand services from digital providers.
No regional figures were revealed yesterday, but past reports have shown that in Scotland more Glaswegians go to the cinema than people in any other city, and more often, with Cineworld in Glasgow being among the most popular in Britain.
Between 1986, when cinema attendance in the UK as a whole was at a record low, and 1999, attendances were seen to double north of the border.
At the UK Film Council, a spokeswoman said: "There is a number of reasons why the figures are down for the past year. Some of the bigger Hollywood films failed to ignite as much as people thought they would.
"The hot summer also could have had an affect and there was also the competing attraction of the World Cup.
"But these things are cyclical and going to the movies is still the number one leisure activity, far more than go and watch football live every year, for example, so visiting the cinema still surpasses everything else: and more than 150 million people is still a lot of people."
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