As expected, changes in UK tax breaks have caused a sharp fall in UK co-productions. Changes in tax breaks caused UK co-productions to fall from 42 to nine in the first half of 2007 but a further 20 co-productions have been made in the third quarter, according to new statistics from the UK Film Council.

The UKFC reported that the amount of money spent on making films in the UK in the first six months of 2007 was at $868.9m (£420m). This is largely due to productions such as How To Lose Friends And Alienate People, Brideshead Revisited, St Trinian's, The Edge Of Love and Revolutionary Road.

Inward investment was up to $670m (£324m) compared to $523m (£253m) in the first half of 2006 thanks to studio films such as The Dark Knight, Sweeney Todd and Mamma Mia!, which are being made in the territory.

At the box office, UK films (among which the Film Council includes films supported by Hollywood studios) accounted for 27% of the UK box office this year.


In the period from January to September 2007, UK films were responsible for more than a quarter of the market share - a 40% increase on the 19% market share achieved in the entire year of 2006.

Admissions in the territory hit nearly 117m at the end of August, an increase of 12% on the same period in 2006. A combination of US blockbusters coupled with specialised films supported the jump in admissions.

The highest grossing film so far in 2007 is Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, which has generated $101.8m (£49.2m) to date. Local favourites Mr Bean's Holiday and Hot Fuzz took $45.5m (£22m) and $43.5m (£21m) respectively.

UKFC's CEO John Woodward said: 'It's been a strong half year of consolidation for film production in the UK. Currently domestic films are steady and we've had strong inward investment from the US again this year. When you couple that with the incredibly strong box office for British films you can see that the underlying trends are very healthy.'

Top 10 UK films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland
1 January- 21 September 2007

Rank Title Country of Gross box Distributor origin box-office (£m)
1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix** UK/US 49.23 Warner Bros
2 The Bourne Ultimatum** UK/US 22.42 Universal
3 Mr Bean's Holiday UK 22.11 Universal
4 Hot Fuzz UK 21.00 Universal
5 Miss Potter UK/US 6.91 Momentum
6 Atonement** UK 6.73 Universal
7 Run, Fat Boy, Run** UK/US 6.35 Entertainment
8 Notes on a Scandal UK 5.87 20th Century Fox
9 The Last King of Scotland UK/Ger 5.67 20th Century Fox
10 28 Weeks Later UK 5.31 20th Century Fox
**=still on release
Source: Nielsen EDI, UKFC Analysis

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