Lord of the Rings boosted cinema takings

The massive marketing spend on films such as Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings saw cinema admissions increase by 13% up to 176 million.

The Film Distributors' Association (FDA) says its investment was the highest ever as blockbusters fought for attention in an ever-growing market.

The UK became the third-largest cinema market in terms of box office takings, behind the US and Japan.

The first annual FDA Yearbook praises the way the UK industry has adapted, with marketing playing a key role in making movies a "must-see" attraction.

An average of seven new films opened every week in 2002, each one vying to entice in cinema-goers.

Piracy

But the FDA warned that the average of three visits a year per visitors was below that of other countries including France, Ireland and Australia.

It also fears that piracy, fuelled by digital technologies, may have cost the industry as much as �950m in the UK.

The most successful genre in the UK in 2002 was by far fantasy/sci-fi as the first two Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films combined grossed �124m in the UK alone.

Movies like James Bond's Die Another Day helped the action-adventure genre gain second place in popularity, followed by animation.

Film Council chairman Sir Alan Parker has contributed his thoughts on the future for film distribution to the yearbook.

He said: "The locomotive of any sustainable industry has to be the way in which films are distributed to their audience."