Cinema admissions in The Netherlands were up year-on-year for the first six months of 2001. Rising 5.7% from 10.6m in the first half of 2000 to 11.2m for the same period this year, ticket sales in the territory continue to show positive growth aided by strong performances from Bridget Jones's Diary ($4.7m to date), Pearl Harbor ($4.5m so far) and local hit Costa!, which grossed more than $3.9m (FL 9.3m) for distributor Amsterdam Film Distribution since opening on March 1.

The Dutch federation of cinematography (NFC) currently predicts admissions should reach 23m for the whole of 2001, with high-profile releases such as Planet Of The Apes, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone and The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring still to come. This would be a rise over 2000's end-of-year tally of 21m admissions for 272 films released, accounting for a total gross of $116.5m (FL 280m).