24/05/2006

UK Secretary of State for Culture Media & Sport, Tessa Jowell, was in Cannes on Monday to celebrate the strong presence of UK films at the festival this year, as well as the impressive worldwide success of UK films, which, in two years, have more than doubled their box office intake, according to new figures published by the UK Film Council’s Research and Statistics Unit.

In 2005, UK films enjoyed an over 20% share of the market in Germany (20.9%), France (20.3%) and Spain (20.4%), all up on 2004, when the market shares were 17.1%, 13.5% and 14.3%, respectively.

In the US and Canada, the market share of UK films was up by 5% to 16%, for a total value of over $1.3bn. Jowell commented: "It's a testament to our dynamic and innovative film industry that the UK enjoyed such a strong showing across the world in 2005, despite a downturn in worldwide cinema admissions. While in Cannes, I will be meeting key industry players to see what I can do to help build further on this success.”

Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council, John Woodward, added: “These figures show that British films are loved by millions of cinema-goers across the world. The market share of UK films at the worldwide box office has more than doubled over the past two years while at home they made up 33% share of the UK box office, the highest in ten years. This is no accident and is a result of the depth of talent, skill and creativity we have in the UK.”

According to Variety, the top five performers worldwide were the UK/US films Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ($808m worldwide), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ($472m), Batman Begins ($371m), Kingdom of Heaven ($210m) and the animated film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit [+see also:
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