Cinema revenue across Britain and Ireland has recorded its best annual performance since the Covid pandemic, with A Minecraft Movie ending 2025 as the highest-grossing film of the year.
Statistics published by experts show that ticket sales in the UK and Ireland reached £1.07bn. This marks a rise of 1% on 2024’s total of £1.06bn. Meanwhile, there was a small drop in the number of films released: 1,092 in 2025, versus 1,124 in 2024.
This result is the highest total since 2019, which saw £1.35bn in total revenue. That was just prior to the collapse of the physical cinema box office the following year, to £323.7m, as Covid restrictions had a devastating impact. Box office takings recovered to £595.5m in 2021, and £980.7m in 2022, only surpassing £1bn in 2023, with a total of £1.06bn.
The numbers of films on release suggest that the movie-making engine, impacted by the pandemic and subsequent film industry strikes in 2023, has rebounded. It is, in fact, surpassing pre-pandemic levels; in 2019, 938 films were released.
Notably, though, a strategic shift appears to be occurring. In 2025, 224 films were recorded as “saturation” releases (playing in over 250 venues simultaneously), against 200 in 2024 and 188 in 2019. Figures show that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale had the widest opening in the UK in 2025, across 750 cinemas.
The top-earning film of 2025 in the UK and Ireland was the game-to-screen translation A Minecraft Movie. Its online buzz, notably from the “chicken jockey” scene, has translated into box office supremacy, with a total of £56.88m.
“Despite only a slight annual rise in box office, 2025 undoubtedly marked a major milestone in the sector’s recovery following the challenges of recent years. There is great optimism that the coming months will see notable additional gains.”
The film also topped the 2025 North American box office but placed fifth at the worldwide box office, trailing the global leader, the Chinese animation Ne Zha 2.
Among domestic features, the fourth Bridget Jones film, Mad About the Boy, was the most successful at the UK and Irish box office, taking £46.4m. It came far in front of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and 28 Years Later in second and third place.
The figures also revealed the ongoing popularity of “event cinema” releases, which took a total of £44m (4.1% of the total). This category included 10 films earning more than £1m. Among these was the record-breaking showing for a stage production; the film of the West End production Six the Musical amassed £6.2m.
Escritora y analista cultural con experiencia en medios internacionales, apasionada por explorar cómo las ideas locales impactan en el mundo.
