British and Irish Cinema Revenue Hit a Post-Covid High as A Minecraft Movie Leads the Year's Box Office
The UK and Irish box office has seen its highest annual performance after the pandemic, with A Minecraft Movie closing out 2025 as the number one film of the year.
A Gradual Recovery in Revenue
Figures released by box-office analysts show that box office revenue in the UK and Ireland totalled £1.07bn. This marks a rise of 1% on 2024’s total of £1.06bn. Concurrently, there was a small drop in the volume of films released: 1,092 in 2025, against 1,124 in 2024.
This result constitutes the peak since 2019, which saw £1.35bn in total revenue. That was shortly before the precipitous drop of the physical cinema box office the following year, to £323.7m, as Covid restrictions hit hard. Cinema revenues bounced back to £595.5m in 2021, and £980.7m in 2022, only surpassing £1bn in 2023, with a total of £1.06bn.
Industry Rebound and Strategic Shift
The count of movies in theaters suggest that the movie-making engine, affected by the pandemic and subsequent film industry strikes in 2023, has rebounded. It is, in fact, exceeding pre-pandemic levels; in 2019, 938 films were released.
Notably, though, a strategic shift appears to be underway. In 2025, 224 films were recorded as “saturation” releases (playing in over 250 venues simultaneously), versus 200 in 2024 and 188 in 2019. According to reports that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale had the largest launch in the UK in 2025, across 750 cinemas.
The Year's Box Office Champion
The highest grossing film of 2025 in the UK and Ireland was the game-to-screen translation A Minecraft Movie. Its viral impact, including the “chicken jockey” scene, has led to box office dominance, with a total of £56.88m.
“Despite only a slight annual rise in box office, 2025 was certainly a significant further step in the sector’s recovery after the challenges of recent years. There is great optimism that the coming months will see substantial more growth.”
The film also led the 2025 North American box office but finished fifth at the worldwide box office, far below the global leader, the Chinese animation Ne Zha 2.
Homegrown Hits and Event Cinema
Among British productions, 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 underscored 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.
