For a chain, Gaucho is startlingly expensive, the final bill ending up pretty close to one from much more stylish, individual restaurants
Boris Johnson's deputy faces damaging new allegations that he misled the public by claiming to be a magistrate
More...
Box office boost for British films
13.11.07
Number one: Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix grossed £49.2 million at the UK box office
Brits on the beat: Hot Fuzz was another major British success
Look here too
Home-grown films accounted for more than a quarter of the UK box office this year, according to figures published today.
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, the latest offering from Mr Bean and police comedy Hot Fuzz were among the successes.
The market share for British films so far this year is 27%, up 19% on the whole of 2006, according to the UK Film Council.
Cinema admissions in 2007 were almost 117 million by the end of August, a rise of 12% on the same period last year.
July was the single biggest month for cinema-going since January 1970, thanks to the dismal weather, with 21.8 million tickets sold.
The last weekend of July was the highest grossing weekend in UK cinema history, as the release of The Simpsons movie and Transformers boosted box office takings to more than £28 million in three days.
The UK Film Council figures cover the period from January 1 - September 21.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the biggest homegrown film of the year, grossing £49.2 million.
The Bourne Ultimatum, another UK/US co-production, grossed £22.4 million, just ahead of Mr Bean's Holiday with £22.1 million and Hot Fuzz with £21 million.
Other entries in the top 10 include Keira Knightley film Atonement and Beatrix Potter biopic Miss Potter.
John Woodward, chief executive of the UK Film Council, said: "It's been a strong half year of consolidation for film production in the UK.
"Currently, domestic films are steady and we've had strong inward investment from the US again this year. When you couple that with the incredibly strong box office for British films, you can see that the underlying trends are healthy."
Top 10 UK Films in the UK and Ireland
1 Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (UK/US co-production) - £49.2 million
2 The Bourne Ultimatum (UK-US) - £22.4 million
3 Mr Bean's Holiday (UK) - £22.1 million
4 Hot Fuzz (UK) - £21 million
5 Miss Potter (UK/US) - £6.9 million
6 Atonement (UK) - £6.7 million
7 Run, Fat Boy, Run (UK/US) - £6.35 million
8 Notes On A Scandal (UK) - £5.9 million
9 The Last King Of Scotland (UK/Germany) - £5.7 million
10 28 Weeks Later (UK) - £5.3 million
13°c
17°c
