People return to cinemas across the globe

300 million more visits to the cinema will be made this year.

16:28 28 September 2004

According to predictions made by the research body Informa, a whopping 8.5 billion visits will be made to cinemas across the globe by the time Big Ben chimes out 2004 for the last time on December 31st, a figure up from 8.2 billion last year.

A list of big name global hits like Mel Gibson's highly controversial The Passion of the Christ and children's favourite Shrek 2 have succeeded in drawing viewers of all ages, races, creeds and nations to the silver screen, while the popularity of less mainstream films like Hero and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind have got a wider range of viewers in.

According to Informa's research, the average global price of a cinema ticket is a deceptively reasonable $2.68, brought down from the typically extortionate prices demanded in most multiplexes throughout the western world by low charges across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

And while Americans are still expected to have seen 5.74 films each this year, compared with the global average of just 1.33 cinema visits per person, the rest of the world is definitely catching up and embracing all that the silver screen has to offer.