The cinema industry took pounds 13 million in box-office sales over
Halloween, making it the highest grossing weekend in history.
The record-breaking sales were largely due to the launch of The Blair
Witch Project, which opened nationwide on 29 October.
The highly publicised film has taken pounds 7.2 million to date in
ticket sales and looks set to become one of the biggest box office hits
ever.
The screening of two other films, Tarzan and American Pie, also helped
to boost attendance.
’It was a cracking weekend,’ said Peter Barrett, Carlton Screen
Advertising’s director of sales. ’Summer is the traditional boom time
for the blockbusters so this was extraordinary. It’s also good news for
advertisers as the distributors are spreading the top films around the
year. Advertisers that want to be more risque can benefit from linking
up with a 15-certificate film, but one which is still pulling in vast
audiences.
’With other forthcoming releases such as The World is not Enough, End of
Days and Inspector Gadget, the end of 1999 looks very healthy.’
Virgin Net advertised around The Blair Witch Project with Ericsson,
Kodak and Barclaycard signing up for packages.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was the last movie to pull in the most
cinema goers in one weekend with pounds 12.5 million in box-office
sales.
