Having earned €120 million at the UK box office alone, Skyfall became the first film to earn more than £100 million (£116 million) in the territory. It more than doubled the take of previous Bond outing Quantum of Solace. Avatar had a final UK gross of around €110 million, almost €20 million ahead of third-placed Titanic.

Other 2012 releases The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit and The Avengers all made it into the top twenty biggest grossing films of all time, while 3D re-releases added to the already healthy box office grosses of Star Wars Episode I and Titanic.

Skyfall’s global box office total surpassed €830 million, making it the eighth highest grossing film of all time. Its director Sam Mendes is already lined-up to direct its sequel, due to be released in 2015. In non-blockbuster terms, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Woman in Black proved the most popular independent British productions of 2012 both in the UK and abroad.

The full figures were revealed in the 2012 Stats Yearbook released by the British Film Institute. 2012 proved a strong year for the UK box office in general, with box-office receipts totalling around €1.3 billion – 172.5 million individual admissions - despite competition from the London Olympics and Euro 2012.

Although online video on demand saw a revenue increase of 123%  - bolstered significantly by the arrival of Netflix in the UK & Ireland – DVD and BluRay sales fell to under £1 billion for the lowest home video revenue since 2001. Revenue from rentals also continued to decrease.

Although home viewing habits continue to change, the BFI figures reveal that the cinema itself is enduringly popular – even if a lion’s share of the receipts continue to come from a handful of high-profile blockbusters such as Skyfall.