It may have been the awful weather, it may have been the credit crunch, it may even have been the prospect of seeing a tone-deaf Pierce Brosnan prancing about singing and dancing to Abba songs, but this summer is expected to have been Britain's best for cinema attendance in almost 40 years.

There is, however, no doubt about the season's big screen star. Mamma Mia!, which cost about £28million to make and also featured Meryl Streep and Julie Walters, has taken £245million in box offices around the world - so far - including £61million in Britain. It has been, in the words of Phil Clapp, chief executive of the Cinema Exhibitors' Association (CEA), an “absolute phenomenon ... In times of economic gloom, people seek affordable and escapist entertainment ... Mamma Mia! has really tapped into the public's desire for feelgood escapism.”

The CEA is expecting August 2008's overall admission figures to be 17.56million or more, which would make the three months from June to August the best summer for British cinema admissions since at least 1972.

“Even cinema industry veterans have been taken by surprise by the popularity of cinema this summer. We knew that admissions generally hold up well when the economy falters but, combined with a series of high-quality movies, that has produced a truly exceptional period for UK cinema,” Mr Clapp said.

He might have mentioned the weather, as well, as desperate parents, choosing to stay at home this year rather than head for foreign climes, searched for ways to keep children entertained when the weather decided not to play ball. Cash-strapped and huddling under brollies, families scuttled into cinemas.

Last year was hardly disappointing: releases including Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End made June and July 2007 strong months, although admissions tailed off in August. Mamma Mia! was released in July and gained in popularity with the introduction of Singalong Mamma Mia! screenings in cinemas across the country. Mamma Mia! is at No 81 (and, perhaps, rising) in Box Office Mojo's top worldwide films of all time in terms of box-office takings.

Jean Gray, a Times Online reader, said of Mamma Mia!: “I have seen the film three times so far and could watch it again and again, as I did the musicals of the Fifties. Some of my friends of all ages have seen it even more times. A brilliant feelgood film.”

It appears that the success of the Mamma Mia! film is following in the footsteps of the stage show, which has been playing in London since 1999 and has become a global phenomenon. Thirty million people have seen the show worldwide and have sung along to Abba's hits. It has taken an estimated $2 billion at the theatre box office globally.

Eyes are now turning to 2009. Mr Clapp said that while the absence of a new Harry Potter film next year is disappointing, hopes remain high that the upcoming film offerings - in particular Quantum of Solace, the 22nd Bond movie, minus the musical Mr Brosnan, the rather more austere Daniel Craig having taken over the role - will continue to attract people to cinemas.

Not that youngsters in search of cheering up were the only visitors to the multiplex: The Dark Knight has taken $972.4million at the worldwide box office so far, £47million of that in Britain, as the world paid homage to Heath Ledger's valedictory Joker and his vain battle against a duller Batman.

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