August's cinema admissions in Germany were the highest for 10 years, thanks to the combined success of Der Schuh Des Manitu Jurassic Park III and Bridget Jones, according to figures collated by the German Federal Film Board (FFA).

August's tally of 17.6m admissions was 52% up on August 2000. Moreover, despite the terror attacks in New York and Washington, September saw attendances 41% higher than for the same month last year.

Admissions in Germany are up 15% on last year for the first nine months of 2001, according to the FFA, which reports that 2001 has the makings of a record year with 127.3m tickets already sold by September 30 (2000: 110.7m) and box-office takings climbing by around 15.4% to exceed $625.8m (DM 1.36bn).

Moreover, the runaway success of Manitu has boosted the German film industry's market share from last year's 13% to 18% for the same period.