Lord of the Rings tops cinema popularity list
Attendance up 3.5%
The sword and sorcery epic Lord of the Rings was the top-grossing film in the first six months this year, statistics released by KRS Film Distributors show.
The figures also show that cinema attendance rose by 3.5 per cent over the same six-month period last year.
A total of 74 films, mainly US productions, were released by KRS until June.
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring played for 15 weeks.
The success of the film in Malta echoed its success abroad, where it became one of the top grossing films ever.
The top 10 list reconfirms the popularity of action films and comedies among cinema-goers.
The second top-grossing film was The Count of Monte Cristo, a film which was aided at the box office thanks to the fact that it was shot mainly in Malta.
The Count of Monte Cristo, the ultimate story of betrayal and revenge, is still running at the cinemas.
Cinema-goers also poured into theatres to watch the romantic comedy The Princess Diaries and A Beautiful Mind, which garnered the 'Best Picture' award at this year's Oscars ceremony. The films were the third and fourth most popular pictures so far.
The Others, the spine-chilling thriller starring Nicole Kidman, and the war-drama Behind Enemy Lines also managed to sneak into the top 10.
KRS general manager Charles Pace said the list of the most popular films roughly reflected that of other European countries. The only exception was the somewhat 'weak' performance of some British films.
Critically acclaimed films like About a Boy and Bend it Like Beckham only received a lukewarm response from Maltese cinema-goers.
Likewise, the response to some films was so poor that they played in the local cinemas for just one week. These included the modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, the German film The Princess and the Warrior and the harrowing picture Intimacy.
On the other hand, films that enjoyed a long run included Ocean's Eleven, Monsters Inc, Rat Race and The Princess Diaries.
Top 10 grossing films for the first six months this year:
1. The Lord of the Rings
2. The Count of Monte Cristo
3. The Princess Diaries
4. A Beautiful Mind
5. Ocean's Eleven
6. The Others
7. Rat Race
8. Vanilla Sky
9. Behind Enemy Lines
10. The Scorpion King