Harry Potter beats Tom Cruise in local cinemas

THE fourth film in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, based on the novel written by J.K. Rowling, was the film which enticed most people into Balearic cinemas last year, with 85'045 seats sold and box office takings of 439'889 euros. These figures come from the 2006 Annual published by the General Society of Authors and Editors (SGAE), which brings together annual figures for 2005 about takings, cultural habits, attendance at cinemas, concerts of classical and pop music, theatre and dance performances. The Harry Potter film was so popular it even defeated top stars such as Tom Cruise, whose sci-fi action movie War of the Worlds, based on the H G Wells novel, was pushed into third place.
It beat the eagerly awaited Episode III of Star Wars, The Revenge of the Sith, which had to be content with fourth place.
Second place on the list went to the Spanish film Torrente 3: El Protector, directed by Santiago Segura who also took the lead role. This was the third in the franchise and attracted 83'989 spectators in the Balearics, taking 450'250 euros at the box office.
After these two came War of the Worlds, Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith, and Meet the Fockers, with 81'750, 80'688 and 79'789 spectators respectively. The comedy Meet the Fockers starring Ben Stiller, Robert de Niro and Dustin Hoffman, was an unexpected hit with local audiences.
Amongst the 10 most seen films last year was also the Dreamworks animated film Madagascar, which had an audience of 73'681 in the Balearics and took 370'760 euros at the box office. Nationally, the most seen film in 2005 was the Spanish comedy Torrente 3: El protector, with 83'989 seats sold and a total of 450'250 euros taken. In addition to this, standing out among the most seen Spanish films in the Balearics is The Queen of the Skies, directed by the American Ridley Scott and filmed, in part, in the province of Huesca. It was seen by 48'452 spectators and took 252'503 euros.