British and Irish Cinema Earnings Hit a Post-Covid High as A Minecraft Movie Tops 2025 Box Office
Cinema revenue across Britain and Ireland has recorded its best annual performance since the Covid pandemic, with A Minecraft Movie ending 2025 as the top-earning film of the year.
A Steady Climb in Earnings
Data from industry analysts show that ticket sales in the UK and Ireland amounted to £1.07bn. This marks a rise of 1% on 2024’s total of £1.06bn. At the same time, there was a small drop in the amount of films released: 1,092 in 2025, versus 1,124 in 2024.
This result constitutes the peak since 2019, which saw £1.35bn in total revenue. That was shortly before the collapse of the physical cinema box office the following year, to £323.7m, as Covid restrictions had a devastating impact. Industry earnings bounced back to £595.5m in 2021, and £980.7m in 2022, only surpassing £1bn in 2023, with a total of £1.06bn.
Pipeline Recovery and Changing Tactics
The count of movies in theaters suggest that the production pipeline, impacted by the pandemic and subsequent film industry strikes in 2023, has regained strength. It is, in fact, topping pre-pandemic levels; in 2019, 938 films were released.
Significantly however, a recalibration of strategy 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 widest opening in the UK in 2025, in more than 750 cinemas.
The Year's Top Film
The top-earning film of 2025 in the UK and Ireland was the gaming adaptation A Minecraft Movie. Its cultural phenomenon, featuring the “chicken jockey” scene, has translated into box office dominance, with a total of £56.88m.
“Despite only a slight annual rise in box office, 2025 clearly represented a significant further step 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 led the 2025 North American box office but placed fifth at the worldwide box office, well behind 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, ended the year as 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 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.