Germany has witnessed a box office boom over the summermonths, with new figures showing admissions and takings to be at an all timehigh for the key May-August period.

Box office takings of Euros 302.7m and admissions of 51.8mare more than 30% higher compared to the same period last year (Euros 216.6mand 38.2m), according to initial figures collated by EDI Nielsen.

This year has also surpassed the previous record summer of2001, which posted Euros 273.5m turnover at the box-office.

While takings and admissions only increased 1.4%year-on-year in the first six months of 2004 (ScreenDaily.com, August2004), the outstanding success of releases such as Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2and (T)Raumschiff Surprise - Periode 1 in July and August have seen theincrease in takings and admissions year-on-year now increase to over 12%.According to EDI Nielsen, takings up to the end of August stood at Euros556.9m, up Euros 65m on the result after eight months in 2003.

Warner Bros has emerged as the leading distributor in Germanyover the summer season, with a 24.9% market share, followed by Constantin with17.2% and UIP with 16.5%.Warner Bros is also the market leader for the periodof January 1 to August 29, 2004 with a market share of 25.2%, thanks to thesuccess of such releases as Harry Potter 3, Troy and The Last Samurai.It is followed by Buena Vista International with 14.6%, UIP with 14.3% andConstantin with 13.4%.

Warner Bros. was the overall market leader in 2003 with a20.4% share of box-office turnover.

Top five 2004 releases in Germany

1 (T)RaumschiffSurprise - Periode 1, Constantin, 22 July, Euros 47.8m

2 Harry Potter 3, Warner, 3 June, Euros 39.3m

3 Troy, Warner, 13 May, Euros 29.5m

4 Shrek 2, UIP, 1 July, Euros 27.3m

5 The Day After Tomorrow, 20th Century Fox, 27 May,Euros 25.7m

Source: EDI Nielsen