Cinema admissions on course for five-year record

A much stronger November than last year, with Michael Jackson concert rehearsal film 'This Is It' a big draw for distributor Sony Pictures, saw admissions increase by 10% from last November to 14.9 million.

Year-to-date admissions are up 3.5% on 2008 to 157.2 million.

The year's biggest film was Warner Bros' 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince', taking £50.5m, followed by Twentieth Century Fox's 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' with £34.6m and Disney Pixar's 'Up' with £34.3m.

Fleur Castell, spokesperson for the Cinema Advertising Association, said: "Cinema is proving its worth to cinemagoers and advertisers with another very impressive set of monthly figures. The forthcoming roll call of Christmas blockbusters should help cement the fantastic year cinema has enjoyed."

This article was first published on brandrepublic.com