British and Irish Cinema Revenue Hit a Post-Pandemic Peak as The Minecraft Film Tops 2025 Box Office

The UK and Irish box office has posted its strongest annual performance since the Covid pandemic, with A Minecraft Movie ending 2025 as the top-earning film of the year.

A Gradual Climb in Revenue

Data from industry analysts show that cinema takings in the UK and Ireland reached £1.07bn. This represents an increase of 1% on 2024’s total of £1.06bn. Concurrently, there was a slight decrease 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 steep decline of the physical cinema box office the following year, to £323.7m, as Covid restrictions hit hard. Box office takings bounced back to £595.5m in 2021, and £980.7m in 2022, only exceeding £1bn in 2023, with a total of £1.06bn.

Industry Rebound and Strategic Shift

The volume of cinematic releases suggest that the film production cycle, hit both 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.

Notably, though, a change in approach 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. Data indicates that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale had the largest launch in the UK in 2025, across 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, featuring the “chicken jockey” scene, has led to box office dominance, with a total of £56.88m.

“Although it saw only a small year-on-year increase in box office, 2025 clearly represented a major milestone in the sector’s recovery after the challenges of recent years. There is great optimism that the coming months will see significant further progress.”

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

Homegrown Hits and Specialty Releases

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 significantly before Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and 28 Years Later in second and third place.

The figures also revealed the continuing strength 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.