BOX office hits such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Bridget Jones’s Baby fuelled a big rise in revenue for the owner of Poole’s multiplex cinema.

Cineworld, which took over the cinema from Empire last August, welcomed more than 100 million filmgoers nationwide in 2016.

A strong slate of new releases also included Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Jungle Book.

Cineworld Group said box office receipts were up seven per cent from 2015 overall and 3.7 per cent in the UK.

Poole’s 16-screen multiplex was one of five former Empire cinemas acquired by Cineworld in a £94m deal last summer, along with those in Leicester Square, Basildon, Bromley and Hemel Hempstead.

Cineworld said at the time that there was no need for significant investment as the Poole site had been given state of the art equipment already. It said it would not be rebranding with Cineworld signage in the short term.

A trading update from Cineworld said: “The group reached record admissions levels in 2016, passing the milestone of over 100 million people coming through our doors to watch a movie.

“Admissions increased in both the UK & Ireland and the rest of the world, with double digit growth taking place in the rest of the world. The top performing movies of the year were Star Wars: Rogue One, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them and Bridget Jones’s Baby, The Jungle Book, The Secret Life of Pets and Zootropolis.”

The chain expanded its retail offering – including opening seven new Starbucks outlets in its cinemas – and achieved a 12.7 per cent growth in retail revenues.

The statement added: “Other income, which predominantly consists of advertising and distribution revenues, increased by seven per cent. The distribution revenue stream is largely dependent on the film slate.”

Cineworld, which has 226 sites with 2,115 screens, said: “There is an exciting film slate for 2017 which includes Star Wars Episode VIII, Despicable Me 3, Beauty and the Beast, Justice League, Paddington 2, Fast and Furious 8, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Dunkirk.”