Bond and Potter squeeze out the competition in screen wars

November is on course to be the most successful month in British cinemas for 30 years. But if you are not a fan of wizards, muggles and quidditch (Harry Potter) or secret agents and hi-tech gadgets (James Bond), you may find slim pickings.

There are more than 3,000 cinema screens in the UK but about half are likely to show Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which opens on 15 November, and Die Another Day, the latest Bond adventure with Pierce Brosnan which opens a week later.

In December, the second instalment of Lord of the Rings will be added to the mix. But a host of other movies face being squeezed to the margins – or into oblivion – as the three blockbusters dominate all but the art-house circuit.

While the advent of the multiplex promised limitless choice, the reality is proving different. In Brighton, for instance, the eight-screen Odeon and its eight-screen UGC rival are likely to play three screens each of Potter and Bond – three-quarters of the available cinema space.

Industry rumour suggests that Fox, distributors of Die Another Day, has put great pressure on cinema chains to make sure that its movie does not suffer at the hands of Harry Potter.

The power of Potter – which, along with Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring, grossed £60m in Britain last year – is such that it has kept Bond out of the prestigious Odeon Leicester Square for the first time in its history.

Mike Thomson, commercial director of UGC, Britain's second-biggest cinema chain, said his company was big enough to give space to other films such as Bowling for Columbine from the American documentary maker Michael Moore and Anita and Me, the film of Meera Syal's novel.

But he said some of his smaller rivals were able to offer much less variety. "They'll be under pressure," he said.

Alan North, sales director of Buena Vista, which is distributing none of the three blockbusters, said: "It's a very dangerous game. By devoting so many screens to these movies, it alienates an audience that is used to being a bit more selective." Buena Vista has decided to back a few, critically acclaimed films likely to please audiences desperate to avoid wizardry and spies in the second half of November and early December.

These include Philip Noyce's Rabbit Proof Fence, a true story about Aboriginal children, and Stephen Frears' new film, Dirty Pretty Things. "It's obvious you can't get a 300-400 print release out there in view of these [big] films, so take the opposite track," said Mr North.

But it leaves many movies struggling, particularly those without Hollywood stars or big promotional budgets.

Yet the success of foreign films such as Amélie and offbeat British movies from East is East to Billy Elliot in recent years suggests audiences are interested in more diversity than they once were – or at least, than they were once given credit for.

New figures from Screen Digest show that cinema attendance in the UK is rising significantly faster than other countries, including the United States. There were more than 17 million visits in the first six months of the year, an increase of nearly 25 per cent on the same time last year.

John Woodward, the Film Council's chief executive officer, welcomed the rise but highlighted the need to encourage more home-grown success. "These figures show that film-going in the UK is now more popular than it has been in decades, but we need to bear in mind that the main crowd-pullers are still largely US productions," he said.

"The challenge now is to build on the recent successes of Gosford Park and Bend It Like Beckham [both lottery-funded] and ensure we have more and more UK films UK audiences want to see, and have the chance to see."