UK cinema audiences reach decade high thanks to 'Skyfall'

According to figures released this week, UK cinema audience numbers reached their highest levels for a decade in 2012, thanks in part to the run-away success of the 23rd James Bond film "Skyfall".

Theatres in the UK took more than �1 billion in ticket sales last year, with "Skyfall" accounting for more than 10% of the take.

Audiences were over 172 million people, according to figures released today by the British Film Institute, an increase of 1 million on the previous year.

#1 Skyfall - �102.26m.
#2 The Dark Knight Rises - �56.26m
#3 Marvel Avengers Assemble - �51.87m.
#4 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - �50m
#5 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn II - �35.67

Extrapolating the figures, approximately 17 million tickets to "Skyfall" were sold in the UK, which is 26% of the population.

The BFI said: "2012 was a spectacular, historic year for the UK with the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Queen�s Diamond Jubilee celebrations gaining massive public attention and participation. Although the early summer marked an unsurprising downturn in cinema business, some of the weekend box office results during the national celebration period were amongst the highest of the year. For example, the second weekend of the Olympic Games, including �Super Saturday� produced the sixth highest weekend of the year for the cinema business. Films on release during that period included Ted and The Dark Knight Rises. The Bond film Skyfall, most of which was filmed in the UK during 2012, was also the overall UK box office leader taking �102 million and still currently playing in cinemas. Other US-studio backed UK films (featuring British filmmakers, crew, studios, locations, etc), included The Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus and War Horse."

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