In 2005, the top ten performing UK films grossed $2.6 billion at cinemas, compared to $1.1 billion in 2003, according to figures released today by Tessa Jowell, the Minister for Culture Media & Sport at the Cannes Film Festival.

Projects qualify as British if they meet a set of criteria set down by the Government, including where the film was shot, the involvement of UK talent in front of and behind the camera, and the percentage of a film’s budget spent in the UK or on UK staff and services.

Most of the projects deemed British are, in fact, American co-productions, such as last year's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which grossed $808 million worldwide – nearly twice the amount earned by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the No2 "British" film.

Only one of the top 20 biggest-earning UK films of 2005 - The Constant Gardener - was funded without any money from Hollywood. It was a collaboration between German and British filmmakers.

Nevertheless, Whitehall is keen to trumpet the success of the British film industry, a sector which suffered last year amid doubts over tax breaks that have attracted investment in past years.

Film production spending in the UK dropped in 2005 as filmmakers waited for details of imminent changes to tax incentives. Ms Jowell today said she believes a "simplified" tax credit system, due to be passed into law later this year, will boost film investment in the UK.

Ms Jowell said: "The new tax regime, which forms part of the Finance Bill... is simplified and provides a good rate of return for films of different size and scale.

"The fact is the new regime was developed in very close consultation with the industry. It was designed also to get rid of some of the abuses of the regime.

"I’m confident that this is a regime that has the support of the industry, from which the industry will benefit, and I hope that the evidence of that will be in the figures from years to come which show British film having an increasing share of the world market."

She added that benefits will be felt far beyond the box office.

"For example, one in five visitors to the UK come as a result of seeing the country depicted in film and television. I am hopeful that The Da Vinci Code, which opened this year's festival, will help bring in even more visitors to the UK."

Ms Jowell is in Cannes to bang the drum for the British film industry where four British films are screening In Competition for prizes including the coveted Palme d’Or.

They are Ken Loach’s The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Andrea Arnold’s Red Road - both of which have received National Lottery funding from the UK Film Council - Richard Linklater’s Fast Food Nation (which also received Lottery funding from the Development Fund), and in the short film section Osbert Parker’s animation Film Noir.

John Woodward, the chief executive of the UK Film Council said: "The market share of UK films at the worldwide box office has more than doubled over the past two years while at home they made up 33 per cent share of the UK box office, the highest for ten years.

"This is no accident and is a result of the depth of talent, skill and creativity we have in the UK."

The figures published today form part of a major report on the UK film industry which will be published by the UK Film Council’s Research and Statistics Unit in June.

Top 10 UK films worldwide 2005

1. Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
2. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
3. Batman Begins
4. Kingdom Of Heaven
5. Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit
6. Sahara
7. The Corpse Bride
8. The Phantom Of The Opera
9. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
10. The Brothers Grimm

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