British and Irish Box Office Revenue Hit a Post-Pandemic High as A Minecraft Movie Tops 2025 Charts

Cinema revenue across Britain and Ireland has posted its strongest annual performance in the post-Covid era, with A Minecraft Movie closing out 2025 as the top-earning film of the year.

A Gradual Climb in Earnings

Figures released by box-office analysts 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 small drop in the volume of films released: 1,092 in 2025, against 1,124 in 2024.

This result is the highest total 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. Cinema revenues recovered to £595.5m in 2021, and £980.7m in 2022, only returning above £1bn in 2023, with a total of £1.06bn.

Pipeline Recovery and Strategic Shift

The count of movies in theaters suggest that the movie-making engine, impacted by the pandemic and subsequent film industry strikes in 2023, has regained strength. It is, in fact, exceeding pre-pandemic levels; in 2019, 938 films were released.

Significantly however, a strategic shift appears to be occurring. In 2025, 224 films were recorded as “saturation” releases (playing in over 250 venues simultaneously), versus 200 in 2024 and 188 in 2019. Figures show that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale had the widest opening in the UK in 2025, across 750 cinemas.

2025's Top Film

The top-earning film of 2025 in the UK and Ireland was the gaming adaptation A Minecraft Movie. Its viral impact, featuring the “chicken jockey” scene, has led to box office the top spot, with a total of £56.88m.

“While growth was modest year-on-year 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 significant further progress.”

The film also topped 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 Event Cinema

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 well ahead of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and 28 Years Later in second and third place.

The figures also underscored the enduring appeal 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.