Whilst co-productions have a long way to get back to the excellent figures of the early noughties, cinema admissions across the UK were at their highest since 2002 and foreign investment reached record levels.

London has fared particularly well in the latest report on box office and production figures by the UK Film Council: aside from marking itself apart as a key destination for film-makers, it has strengthen its reputation as a region populated by cinema enthusiasts.

Braving the Tide

Film proved to be a resilient industry during the recession in a year marked by a buoyant box office topped by a London-shot film – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – and the highest ever inward investment, most of which was concentrated in the capital.

London remained a hot spot for overseas investment, continuing to demonstrate and foster its international competitiveness. The total of inward investment in the UK has more than doubled year on year, reaching £752.7m in 2009. This was largely thanks to high profile London-shot titles soon to hit the screens, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, Robin Hood, Gulliver’s Travels, Clash of the Titans, Inception and London Boulevard.

It was also a positive year for UK independent film production, which remained at a consistent level of recent years – with 71 titles made and a total spend of £169.2m. These figures sit within the UK’s total production spend in 2009, considered ‘the second best on record’ with an overall spend of nearly £1bn – a 56% increase from 2008.

Where Would You Like to Sit?

However, the biggest story for the industry in 2009 was possibly the recovery of the UK box office (and the spectacular surge of 3D films), coupled with the rise in popularity of home-grown indie films.

Takings across the country hit a record of £1bn with admissions reaching 173.5m. 24% (41.7m) of all admissions were in the capital, confirming cinema-going as one of the favourite past-times for Londoners during 2009. London cinema-goers were followed by film lovers in the Midlands (24.6m) and Lancashire (19.8m), matching the regional pattern seen in previous years.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which shot on location in London, was the highest overall earner of the year with £51 million. The latest instalment of Harry Potter also tops the table of the 20 highest earning UK films. In fact, the list is clearly dominated by films shot in the capital and surrounding studios (15 of the 20), including recent releases such as Fantastic Mr. Fox, Sherlock Holmes and St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold.

The overall box office share of UK films (both independent and with the support of US studios) was 16.5%, with half of that going to independent productions. Indies such as Oscar-winner Slumdog Millionaire, London-shot In The Loop and Duncan Jones’ acclaimed debut Moon, had a prosperous year – experiencing a popularity boom and getting a 8.5% of the UK box office, the largest share of the past decade.