British and Irish Cinema Takings Hit a Post-Covid Peak as A Minecraft Movie Tops the Year's Charts
Cinema revenue across Britain and Ireland has recorded its best annual performance after the pandemic, with A Minecraft Movie ending 2025 as the highest-grossing film of the year.
A Steady Climb in Earnings
Statistics published by experts show that cinema takings in the UK and Ireland amounted to £1.07bn. This shows growth 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, compared with 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 hit hard. Industry earnings climbed to £595.5m in 2021, and £980.7m in 2022, only exceeding £1bn in 2023, with a total of £1.06bn.
Pipeline Recovery and Changing Tactics
The count of movies in theaters suggest that the movie-making engine, hit both 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.
Significantly however, a change in approach appears to be underway. In 2025, 224 films were recorded as “saturation” releases (playing in over 250 venues simultaneously), compared with 200 in 2024 and 188 in 2019. According to reports that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale had the biggest debut 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 gaming adaptation A Minecraft Movie. Its online buzz, featuring the “chicken jockey” scene, has translated into box office dominance, with a total of £56.88m.
“While growth was modest year-on-year in box office, 2025 undoubtedly marked a significant further step in the sector’s recovery following the challenges of recent years. There is strong confidence that the coming months will see notable additional gains.”
The film also led the 2025 North American box office but finished fifth at the worldwide box office, trailing the global leader, the Chinese animation Ne Zha 2.
British Productions 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 well ahead 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 record-breaking showing for a stage production; the film of the West End production Six the Musical amassed £6.2m.
