U.s. Fare Rules Eu B.o. In '96

American films dominated the European Union's boxoffice last year, according to a survey by the Paris-based European Audiovisual Observatory.

The most popular film in the EU in 1996 was "Independence Day," which attracted 35.1 million admissions. This was followed by "Mission: Impossible" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," which both drew more than 18 million filmgoers.

The United States-United Kingdom co-production "Sense and Sensibility" was 10th with 9.4 million admissions, while the highest non-U.S. film was "Trainspotting," which attracted 8.7 million filmgoers and was ranked 13th. The highest non-English-language film was the German "Werner, Das muss kesseln!" in 21st place with 5.2 million admissions.

Only 10 of the top 40 films were European productions; two were U.S.-European co-productions.

However, the survey covered approximately 70% of all cinema admissions in the 15-member EU. Cinema admission figures were unavailable for Greece, Austria, Portugal and Ireland, and were not comprehensive for Germany, Italy and Spain.

The European Audiovisual Observatory is looking to set up a Pan-European database to monitor all cinema releases in Europe.

"Today's problem in the creation of a database on boxoffice figures and admissions consists of the lack of data in some countries, accessing existing data in some others and its lacking systematic compilation on a Pan-European level," said Andrew Lange, an Observatory statistical expert.

At a workshop organized by the Observatory earlier this month, producers, distributors and representatives of professional organizations and public bodies from 13 countries agreed unanimously about the need to monitor the EU's boxoffice.

"It is too early to propose concrete details about a future database," said Nils Klevjer Aas, executive director of the Observatory, "but the workshop certainly motivates implementation of the project."