What is wrong with British Film Industry?

What is wrong with British Film Industry?

In my opinion I think there isn’t anything wrong with the British film industry this is because the UK have produced many box office hits, these include Slumdog Millionaire, Alien vs. Predator and all of the Harry Potter movies.

Slumdog Millionaire was released in the UK on 9^th January 2009 and opened at No.2 at the UK box office. It then reached No.1 in its second weekend and set a UK box office record this is because the films takings increased by 47%. The films UK box office gross was £22,973,110 in February 2009; this made it the eighth biggest hit at UK cinemas.

 Alien vs. Predator was released on August 12, 2004 in the UK and then was released the following day in North America in 3395 theatres. The film grossed $38.2 million over its opening weekend for an average of $11,278 per theatre, and was number one at the box office.  It grossed $9 million in the United Kingdom, $16 million in Japan, and $8 million in Germany and totalled $92,262,423 at the international box office.

The Harry Potter film series is the highest grossing film series of all time, with $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts. Also each film is in the list of highest grossing films of all time. As of 2012, the Harry Potter film franchise is the franchise of all time, with the eight films released grossing over $7.7 billion worldwide.  This is higher than the 22 James Bond films and the six films in the Star Wars franchise.

The British Film Industry has been a success for the past years. The UK box office takings reached a record breaking £944 million in 2009. UK films grossed $2 billion at the box office worldwide. The BFI’s 54th London Film Festival earlier in the year showcased some of the very best the UK has to offer, from Danny Boyle’s 127 hours to Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech. Harry Potter 7 put in a record opening weekend performance of 18.3 million at the box office. This is a record for any British film in the UK market. Another reason that the British film industry is doing well is that Pirates of the Caribbean 4 was filmed in the UK and the first three were not filmed in the UK. WarnerBros made a decision to make a £100 million investment in Leavesden. The British film industry is also moving forward as a new  BFI, increased funding from the Lottery, the establishment of Creative England, an increased commitment from Film 4 and the BBC, support from Odeon, a Digital Funding Partnership. Major companies like Odeon are now coming forward with proposals to support the British film industry further.

            One problem that the BFI are facing is the fact that the America have better craft skills. This means they have to invest in good training in order for them not to fall back as it will be hard for them to get them back. As you have realised the British film industry and then US film industry are always competing. The US film industry have got many different studios than the BFI and this is resulting in many people going to America to become famous due to more popularity in this industry. America have many famous actors and actresses compared to the UK, this is why people who want to become famous go to America as they assume that they will become famous for being in this industry.

            The Office of the British Film Commissioner, and particularly its branch in Los Angeles, has done a fantastic job in convincing US studios to bring their films to the UK. This highlights the fact that they are in a very competitive world market. British film and television make up and important part of the economy, they will continue to be an important source of growth and prosperity in the years ahead.  BAFTA, the BFI, Film London and BBC Worldwide are working together to build on their existing capacities and connections to explore showcasing and promoting British films to the entertainment industry in the US, the world’s largest market for media and entertainment services. This will be a good development for UK film and it is industry led.

            In conclusion, I think there is nothing wrong with the British Film Industry, I have highlighted my main points on why I think this and I have also highlighted some problems. Overall I believe that the British film industry is a successful industry due to all the great box office hits from very success films. Due to these successful films the BFI have made lots of money and success. Also the British Film Industry have supporters helping them to become even more successful in the future, this is good because they may even become more successful than the US film industry.