Lord Of The Rings - The Return Of The King took over £1m in advance ticket sales before its release today (Dec 17) in the UK.

The figure, published by the Cinema Advertising Association, confirms the huge level of anticipation for the third part of Peter Jackson's trilogy that exists around the country.

CAA figures, meanwhile, showed that UK cinema admissions in November totalled 13.7m, a 17% decrease on the same month last year. 2002 the highest November on record since 1968, thanks to the release of Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets and Bond: Die Another Day.

The top film at the UK box office in November was the third instalment of the Matrix sci fi trilogy. Released on Nov 7, The Matrix Revolutions opened with £5.7m excluding previews in its first weekend (the 4th highest of the year so far) and went on to take £16.7m to top the monthly box office.

Although only released on Nov 21, Richard Curtis' Love Actually was the second biggest film of November, taking over £15m in just two weekends.