Passion helps record year at global box office

Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ has helped boost international box-office admissions in 2004, with a predicted 8.5 million visits to the cinema by the end of the year.

Movies including The Passion Of The Christ and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban have helped increase global cinema takings by 7% to a predicted $22.8bn (€18.5bn) in 2004, reports research group INFORMA.