UK and Ireland Cinema Earnings Reach a Post-Covid High as The Minecraft Film Tops 2025 Charts

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

A Gradual Climb in Earnings

Statistics published by experts show that box office revenue in the UK and Ireland amounted to £1.07bn. This marks a rise of 1% on 2024’s total of £1.06bn. Meanwhile, there was a slight decrease 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 just prior to the precipitous drop of the physical cinema box office the following year, to £323.7m, as Covid restrictions took a severe toll. Box office takings recovered 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 Strategic Shift

The volume of cinematic releases suggest that the movie-making engine, impacted by the pandemic and subsequent film industry strikes in 2023, has recovered. It is, in fact, surpassing pre-pandemic levels; in 2019, 938 films were released.

Significantly however, a change in approach appears to be occurring. 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 widest opening in the UK in 2025, in more than 750 cinemas.

The Year'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, featuring the “chicken jockey” scene, has resulted in box office supremacy, with a total of £56.88m.

“Although it saw only a small year-on-year increase in box office, 2025 undoubtedly marked a major milestone in the sector’s recovery after the challenges of recent years. There is strong confidence that the coming months will see substantial more growth.”

The film also dominated 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 Specialty Releases

Among UK-made films, the fourth Bridget Jones film, Mad About the Boy, finished the year as 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 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.