We all Love it, Actually

Love Actually was the biggest British global movie hit of last year, it was revealed today.

The romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon and directed by Richard Curtis earned worldwide ticket receipts of $185 million (£99 million). Second was Rowan Atkinson's spy comedy, Johnny English, which made $158 million (£84 million).

Together the top 10 UK films in 2003 took more than one billion US dollars at the box office around the world.

Admissions at UK cinemas also reached their second highest level in 30 years with

167.3 million movie visits, according to the UK Film Council. Box office receipts in the UK were £742 million, an increase of 136 per cent over the last decade. Research shows most people in the UK went to the cinema at least once last year, while one in four went once a month.

Comedies such as Love Actually and Calendar Girls were the most popular type of film although men preferred action movies like Terminator 3.

Today's figures also show the UK film industry reached record levels of production last year. The film and video industries now employ a record 57,000 people, and the workforce has increased by 77 per cent in the past decade.