Almost a million and half people took part in last weekend’s National Cinema Day, which offered tickets to a mix of classics and recent titles, including Top Gun: Maverick, for just £3 according to figures released by industry body Cinema First.
The figures, compiled by leading box office analysts Comscore, show that over 1.46 million UK film fans took up the offer – around three times the number normally seen for the same day in the most recent pre-COVID years and more than the 1.34 million record set by the last UK event of its kind, a £1 Cinema Day held back in 1997.
National Cinema Day was developed by Cinema First and supported by the Film Distributors’ Association and the UK Cinema Association.
Welcoming the success of the event, Iain Jacob, Chair of Cinema First, said: “The appeal to audiences of the true cinema experience is universal, enduring and deep rooted. We wanted to celebrate this with a ‘big thank’ you to audiences and a great offer for everybody in the UK.
People clearly really loved our inaugural National Cinema Day. The cinema experience has always been the most enriching and positive form of escapism, by combining the joy of cinema with an amazingly accessible price we are proud to have supported our audiences at this incredibly challenging time.”
Thank you to everybody who came.’