Cinema revenue across Britain and Ireland has posted its strongest annual performance in the post-Covid era, with A Minecraft Movie ending 2025 as the highest-grossing film of the year.
Data from industry analysts show that cinema takings in the UK and Ireland totalled £1.07bn. This marks a rise of 1% on 2024’s total of £1.06bn. At the same time, there was a minor decline in the number of films released: 1,092 in 2025, against 1,124 in 2024.
This result marks the best figure since 2019, which saw £1.35bn in total revenue. That was shortly before the steep decline of the physical cinema box office the following year, to £323.7m, as Covid restrictions had a devastating impact. Industry earnings climbed to £595.5m in 2021, and £980.7m in 2022, only exceeding £1bn in 2023, with a total of £1.06bn.
The volume of cinematic releases suggest that the production pipeline, affected by the pandemic and subsequent film industry strikes in 2023, has regained strength. It is, in fact, topping pre-pandemic levels; in 2019, 938 films were released.
Notably, though, a recalibration of strategy appears to be occurring. In 2025, 224 films were recorded as “saturation” releases (playing in over 250 venues simultaneously), versus 200 in 2024 and 188 in 2019. Figures show that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale had the widest opening in the UK in 2025, with over 750 cinemas.
The highest grossing film of 2025 in the UK and Ireland was the video game movie A Minecraft Movie. Its cultural phenomenon, notably from the “chicken jockey” scene, has resulted in box office the top spot, with a total of £56.88m.
“While growth was modest year-on-year in box office, 2025 was certainly a significant further step 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 dominated 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 significantly before Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and 28 Years Later in second and third place.
The figures also highlighted 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 best ever performance for a stage production; the film of the West End production Six the Musical amassed £6.2m.
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