Riots hit the box office

UK box office revenue dropped by more than a quarter on Tuesday as cinemagoers chose to stay indoors in the wake of the worst night of rioting seen in Britain for 30 years. Gross profits fell by 27% to £2.4m week-on-week as dozens of cinemas closed on the advice of police. Revenue was also down 16% on Monday to £2.67m according to Rentrak, which provides data from sites across the UK. Other contributory factors in the decline may have been the relatively warm weather and the mediocre performance of box office No 1, Super 8, which opened with just £2.2m compared to £2.9m for superhero flick Captain America last week. The country's largest cinema chain, Odeon-UCI, closed 24 of its 117 cinemas, including 19 in greater London. Cinemas in other cities which have seen trouble, including Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, also closed their doors. Cineworld closed two cinemas in south London and arthouse chain Picturehouse closed four. Box office figures were expected to return to normal for the rest of the week as a huge police presence in London appeared to have quelled looting and other criminality by Tuesday night.