MOVIE INDUSTRY RETURNS

The cinema industry is jumping for joy at a bumper third quarter, with admissions up by over 6% despite a scorcher of a summer, The Sunday Independent reports. The World Cup did enormous damage in the second quarter but takings are still up 8% on last year overall – much of it attributable to 3D ticket sales, as evidenced by the success of Avatar, which so far has taken in more than €2bn. The film cost about €215m to make. Separately, Ward Anderson’s Irish Multiplex Cinemas has been refused permission to expand its multiplex in Dun Laoghaire, according to The Sunday Tribune. The council turned down the application, citing a shortfall in parking spaces required and “an unacceptable level of nuisance for local residents and emergency vehicles.”