Bond joins Pirates in Top 10 film list

Both movies took more than £50 million each in 2006, according to new figures from the UK Film Council.

Casino Royale is the most commercially successful Bond to date, taking just three weeks to surpass Die Another Day's final tally of £36 million.

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Only eight other films have ever broken through the £50 million barrier.

The top 20 British films grossed a total of £151 million at the box office in 2006.

Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, Flushed Away, The Queen, Stormbreaker, Children of Men, The History Boys and The Wind that Shakes the Barley were the most popular.

Cannes Film Festival winner The Wind that Shakes the Barley became Ken Loach's most successful film to date.

A total £762 million was taken at the UK box office in 2006, 1 per cent down on 2005, the statistics also show.

Admissions stood at 157 million, down 5 per cent on last year, which the UK Film Council says is partly due to World Cup fever and record temperatures.

The UK Film Council says there has been a gradual decline in the number of films shown on BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel 4 over the last 10 years - down from 2,807 in 1997 to 2,011 in 2006. One in five films broadcast on TV last year was British.

But the proportion of UK films less than eight years old shown on the main networks has increased over the last five years from 2.8 per cent in 2002 to 5.2 per cent last year.

Recent British films shown on BBC1 have more than doubled in five years from 3.8 per cent in 2002 to 8.2 per cent in 2006.

UK Film Council chief executive officer John Woodward said: "British filmmakers make brilliant films which audiences flock to see, that's why Casino Royale jumped straight into the £50 million club.

"Last year's most successful British films at the UK box office demonstrate the sheer range and style of film we can make, from high concept visual effects productions to films which reflect British culture and history."

The top ten highest grossing films at the UK box office

1. Titanic (1998) £69,025,646

2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) £66,096,060

3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) £63,009,288

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) £61,062,348

5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) £57,600,094

6. Casino Royale (2006) £55,504,945

7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) £54,780,731

8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) £52,515,550

9. The Full Monty (1997) £52,232,058

10. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999) £51,063,811