News that cinema box-office figures are rising steadily will be music to every Hollywood mogul’s ears. Ten years ago, lofty experts (myself included) predicted that high street chains would be in financial tatters by 2010. The arrival of DVDs, giant television screens and internet technology signalled the end of the Saturday night squash in the local fleapit. The living-room sofa was hailed gloomily as the stall of the future. What a rare joy it is to be wrong.

The traditional outing to the picture house is alive and well. Cinema clubs are flourishing. The magic of a big-screen sensation is as fresh as ever. But the most fascinating statistic is the increasing number of “older” people who are buying tickets. The significance of this seemingly innocuous detail cannot be overestimated. The ironclad notion that the success of a mainstream film is dependent entirely on its fairground appeal to 12 to 35-year-olds is looking decidedly rusty.

Art-house hits such as The Lives of Others have found new and thrifty audiences. The taste for thinking cinema appeals to a better-educated audience with a lot more disposable income. People are willing to take risks. Events such as Cannes, and The Times bfi London Film Festival, have ever more influence on the kind of film being made simply because audiences are hungry for quality.

A more elastic attitude to censorship has enabled thrillers such as Casino Royale to be turned into family blockbusters. Lucrative franchises such as Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean sell clever layers of in-jokes to parents while pushing all the right buttons for children. Film-makers are under increasing pressure to provide better stories and credible dialogue. And we’ve all finally woken up to the fact that there is more to life than sensation. Cinema is truly growing up.

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