UK’s National Cinema Day Sees Admissions Drop by a Third

Attendance and Box Office Figures

According to figures from box office analyst Comscore, the UK’s National Cinema Day saw admissions drop by a third from 2023, with one million admissions from cinemas taking part in the event. In 2023, 1.56 million admissions were recorded. Total box office takings in the UK on Saturday stood at £4m, 13% down on the 2023 figure of £4.7m. In 2022, 1.46 million admissions were achieved in a single day, bringing in £4.4m at the box office.

New Releases and Performance

This year’s National Cinema Day saw tickets start at £4, compared to £3 in the two previous iterations. Last year benefitted from a strong summer release schedule, with Warner Bros’ Barbie, Sony’s The Equalizer 3, and Universal’s Oppenheimer the best performing titles.

This year, National Cinema Day fell on a weak weekend for new releases. Holdover family films performed well, with the most popular films on the day being Universal’s Despicable Me 4, on its eighth weekend; Disney’s Inside Out 2, on its 12th weekend; Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine, on weekend six; Sony’s It Ends With Us, on weekend four; Disney’s Alien: Romulus, on weekend three, and Trafalgar Releasing’s 15th anniversary re-release of the animation Coraline, also on weekend three.

New Releases and Cinema Operators

The widest new releases of the weekend was André Rieu’s 2024 Maastricht Concert: Power Of Love playing in 649 locations for Piece of Magic, followed by Chris Weitz’s horror Afraid, at 450 sites. Odeon, Cineworld, Vue, Picturehouse, Showcase, and Curzon were among the operators taking part.

Conclusion

National Cinema Day was developed by the cross-industry body Cinema First and supported by the Film Distributors’ Association and the UK Cinema Association. The event aims to promote cinema-going and increase attendance figures. Despite the drop in admissions, the event still attracted a significant number of attendees and generated revenue for participating cinemas.

FAQs

Q: What was the attendance figure for National Cinema Day in 2023?
A: 1.56 million admissions were recorded.

Q: What was the total box office takings for National Cinema Day in 2023?
A: £4.7m.

Q: What were the most popular films on National Cinema Day?
A: Universal’s Despicable Me 4, Disney’s Inside Out 2, Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine, Sony’s It Ends With Us, Disney’s Alien: Romulus, and Trafalgar Releasing’s 15th anniversary re-release of the animation Coraline.