Film Viewing Statistics

In order to try and predict the potential success of a film, it is essential to look at the success of recent films. The film that our OTS represents would be a UK independent film, so I looked for the top 10 UK films for box office gross in 2009.

Top 10 UK films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland, 2009:

1. Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. Sherlock Holmes*
4. Fantastic Mr Fox*
5. St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold*
6. The Boat That Rocked
7. Nativity!*
8. The Young Victoria
9. Harry Brown*
10. Planet 51*

Source: Nielsen EDI, UK Film Council RSU analysis
Films with an asterisk (*) were still being exhibited on 10 January 2010.
UK and Republic of Ireland are a single “territory” for film distribution purposes.

Taken from:
http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/media/pdf/k/s/The_UK_box_office_in_2009_Final_Version.pdf

Whilst there is only one close match to our psychological-crime-thriller genre, Harry Brown, the list shows that UK audiences for UK film are interested in post-modernist peices with a mixture of historical and cultural influences. These include Slumdog Millionaire, Sherlock Holmes, Fantastic Mr Fox, and The Boat that Rocked. Therefore, a film influenced heavily by film noir, such as that which our OTS preceds, may actually find quite a large audience; the ambiguity of trailers would appeal to hedonists, and the influence of classic film-noir would appeal to both post-modernists and traditionalists in different ways.



Whilst looking at past statistics can be a real help, it is also wise to look at films that are currently being shown. I chose to look at films showing currently at cinemas in the city of York. York a modern, diverse, and culturally dominant city, and so I felt it would accurately reflect traits of the UK overall.


The films on show at least 3 times everyday this week at Vue are:

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (U)
• Daybreakers (15)
• Edge of Darkness (15)
• It's Complicated (15)
• Ninja Assassin (18)
• Sherlock Holmes (12A)
• The Book of Eli (15)
• The Road (15)

The films on show at least 5 times this week at the 'art house' Picturehouse are:

• A Prophet (18)
• Avatar 3D (12A)
• Precious (15)
• Up in the Air (15)

What these figures show is that, at the moment, both large and art house cinemas are endorsing more adult films of thriller-related genre. It is particularly surprising to see the BBFC's '15' rating dominating the list, along with two '18's. Although it could indicate a rise in demand for such films, it may well be the result of York's two popular universities, creating a large student population that regularly watch such films.

Overall, the conditions of the film industry are promising for the success of a '15' rated film that endorses the classic film-noir style and fits into the psychological-thriller genre. I think that, if the film that our OTS precedes were to be released soon, it would perform averagely, but not better than most, because it fits into the thriller genre, which is quite densely populated, and would have to share audiences with other films within this category.