News

A study by the Directory of World Cinema has revealed that an estimated one-in-four UK households owns a copy of the ABBA-inspired smash hit flick Mamma Mia on DVD or other home playback format. This perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise, as separate research by Showcase Cinemas suggests musicals are our favourite genre, with half of the population rating sing-along fare above all else.

Further number-crunching shows that one-in-three Brits has been to see a musical at the cinema in the last 12 months, joining a boom in the popularity of West End theatre shows.

A third of us are also more likely to watch the same musical ‘numerous’ times at the cinema than any other genre of film – which might explain why even weeks after the DVD release of the recent musical megahit The Greatest Showman, cinema chains were still screening it.

And while slightly more women than men are musical-mad, twice as many men than women admit to watching musicals on their own at the cinema.

Showcase Cinemas has also compiled a poll of the UK’s favourite musicals, with Grease taking the number one spot, followed by Mamma Mia and The Greatest Showman. Also in the top 10 were Oliver! (1968), West Side Story (1961), and Singin’ In The Rain (1952), despite each being 50 or more years old.

There’s no sign of HCC musical fave Team America: World Police, though.