Total box office revenue in the UK and Ireland surpassed the $1.5bn (£1bn) mark in 2009 for the first time.
Admissions reached a seven-year high of 173.5 million, helped by 3D. While the box office boomed, the crowded independent distribution sector was under pressure to consolidate. Even though Slumdog Millionaire became Pathe Distribution’s highest-grossing film ever in the UK ($52.2m) at the start of the year, the company cut back its theatrical operation and struck a deal for Warner Bros to handle the physical distribution of Pathe’s titles.
Slumdog helped make it a stellar year overall for UK films, but Richard Curtis’ comedy The Boat That Rocked fell short of Universal Pictures International’s expectations, grossing just $9.8m (£6.2m).
However, foreign-language films fared unusually well. Momentum Pictures’ Let The Right One In grossed $1.7m, more than a fifth of its international total, making the UK the film’s biggest territory outside Sweden.
| UK: Top 5 Films 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title (origin) | Distributor | Gross |
| Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince (US-UK) | Warner Bros | $80.7m |
| Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (US) | 20th Fox | $57.3m |
| Up* (US) | Walt Disney SMPI | $56m |
| Slumdog Millionaire (UK) | Pathe Distribution | $50.4m |
| Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (US) | PPI | $44m |
Source: Rentrack EDI
| UK: Top 5 Local Films 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title (origin) | Distributor | Gross |
| Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince (US-UK) | Warner Bros | $80.7m |
| Slumdog Millionaire (UK) | Pathe Distribution | $50.4m |
| Sherlock Holmes (US-UK)* | Warner Bros | $24.9m |
| St Trinian’s: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold (UK)* | Entertainment Films Distribution | $9.8m |
| The Boat That Rocked (US-UK-Fr) | UPI | $9.76m |
*Until December 31, 2009. Still on release. Source: Rentrack EDI, UK Film Council
| UK: Top 5 DVD Sell-Through 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Distributor | Units sold |
| Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince | Warner Bros | 2.3m |
| Quantum Of Solace | 20th Fox | 2m |
| Twilight | E1 Entertainment | 1.8m |
| Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen | Paramount | 1.4m |
| Slumdog Millionaire | 20th Fox | 1.38m |
Source: British Video Association
| UK: Foreign Releases 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title (origin) | Distributor | Gross |
| Kambakkht Ishq (Ind) | Eros International | $11.6m |
| Broken Embraces (Sp) | Warner Bros | $2.1m |
| Love Aaj Kal (Ind) | Eros International | $1.7m |
| Let The Right One In (Swe) | Momentum Pictures | $1.7m |
| The Class (Fr) | Artificial Eye | $1.4m |
| Mesrine: Killer Instinct (Fr-It-Can) | Momentum Pictures | $1m |
| De Dana Dan (Ind) | Eros International | $0.9m |
| Dil Bole Hadippa! (Ind) | Yash ral Films | $0.82m |
| Blood: The Last Vampire (Fr-Jap-HK-Arg) | Pathe, Warner Bros | $0.8m |
| Billu (Ind) | Eros International | $0.7m |
Source: Rentrack EDI, Screen International
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