British and Irish Cinema Earnings Reach a Post-Pandemic High as A Minecraft Movie Leads the Year's Charts

The UK and Irish box office has recorded its best annual performance since the Covid pandemic, with A Minecraft Movie ending 2025 as the number one film of the year.

A Gradual Recovery in Revenue

Figures released by box-office analysts show that ticket sales 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 amount of films released: 1,092 in 2025, compared with 1,124 in 2024.

This result marks the best figure since 2019, which saw £1.35bn in total revenue. That was just prior to the precipitous drop of the physical cinema box office the following year, to £323.7m, as Covid restrictions had a devastating impact. Box office takings climbed to £595.5m in 2021, and £980.7m in 2022, only returning above £1bn in 2023, with a total of £1.06bn.

Industry Rebound and Changing Tactics

The count of movies in theaters suggest that the production pipeline, affected by the pandemic and subsequent film industry strikes in 2023, has rebounded. It is, in fact, topping pre-pandemic levels; in 2019, 938 films were released.

Importantly, however, a change in approach appears to be taking place. 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, with over 750 cinemas.

2025's Top Film

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 dominance, with a total of £56.88m.

“Despite only a slight annual rise in box office, 2025 was certainly a key advance in the sector’s recovery following the challenges of recent years. There is great optimism that the coming months will see substantial more growth.”

The film also topped the 2025 North American box office but finished fifth at the worldwide box office, trailing the global leader, the Chinese animation Ne Zha 2.

Homegrown Hits and Event Cinema

Among UK-made films, 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 highest-grossing run for a stage production; the film of the West End production Six the Musical amassed £6.2m.