Movie magic: Avengers and the rain boost Cineworld

DISNEY’S Avengers superhero movie and a wet bank holiday weekend have proved to be the perfect combination for Britain’s only listed cinema operator.

Cineworld said yesterday that admissions rose 3.3 per cent in the 19 weeks to 10 May, with the first two weeks of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble helping draw in the crowds amid the unseasonably cool weather.

The movie, which stars Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson, left, broke box office records in its opening weekend in the US.

For the first half of the year as a whole, sales at Cineworld are expected to be flat as the Euro 2012 football championship acts as a distraction.

However, the group, which has 79 cinemas and 811 screens, said movies including The Dictator, Snow White and the Huntsman and 3D releases Men in Black 3 and Prometheus are expected to prove popular.