Dr Who breaks box office record; Latest example of alternative content brought into cinemas
November 26, 2013 Leave a comment
November 25, 2013 11:13 pm
Dr Who breaks box office record
By Robert Cookson, Digital Media Correspondent
Special cinema screenings of the 50th anniversary episode of Dr Who over the weekend have broken the European record for box office takings from so-called “alternative content”. The Day of the Doctor was screened in 3D by 440 cinemas in the UK and raised £1.8m – making it the third highest-grossing film this weekend after The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Gravity, according to figures from Rentrak.“That’s the sort of number that’s going to get people’s attention, including other TV production companies,” said David Hancock, head of cinema at IHS Screen Digest, a research company.
Many cinema chains – including Cineworld
, Vue, and Odeon & UCI – have in recent years started to screen non-movie content ranging from live opera and ballet to rock concerts and sport.
The Day of the Doctor, which was broadcast for free on television on Saturday, is the latest example of alternative content being brought into cinemas in addition to traditional films.
Mr Hancock of IHS said the £1.8m earned by Dr Who in a single weekend made it the most successful piece of alternative content ever seen in UK and European cinema.
Rentrak estimates that the overall UK market for alternative cinema content will reach £20m in the UK this year.
While this content will account for less than 2 per cent of the forecast £1.1bn in UK cinema takings in 2013, according to IHS, it has grown from next to nothing a decade ago, and is expected to continue increasing as a proportion of box office revenues.
At the weekend, the typical ticket price for Dr Who in cinemas was £12 – almost double the average UK cinema ticket price of £6.37, but in line with the premium attracted for 3D films and alternative content.
As most UK cinemas have now replaced their 35mm film and mechanical projectors with digital technology, they are able to screen a much broader range of content and cater to more niche tastes.
In the US, the Metropolitan Opera pioneered live screening of events in cinemas in 2006, with a satellite transmission of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Since then, the UK’s Royal Opera House and the National Theatre have also embraced cinema as a way to tap into new audiences.
For the cinemas, screening live or unusual shows can attract a new pool of customers, often at off-peak times.
In total, more than 1,500 cinemas across the world screened the Dr Who special at the weekend.
The science fiction drama is one of the most successful shows in the history of the BBC
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