The Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) represents the interests of film distributors in the UK and Ireland. Its membership ranges from Hollywood studios to independent operators and is responsible for 99% of all films released theatrically in the territory.
Comscore today announced the 2023 UK and Irish cinema box office total as £1.062bn, the first time the territory has crossed the £1bn threshold since the global COVID pandemic.
Final box office takings for 2023 reached £1.062bn (vs.£981m in 2022), a healthy rise of 8% on last year leaving behind the COVID-affected market nadirs of 2020 (£323m) and 2021 (£597m). Despite the impact of film industry strike action and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, territory box office remains on an upward path of recovery.
1,013 new titles were released in cinemas across the home nations (vs.929 in 2022). Barbie (£96m) was the top grossing film of the year, giving Warner Bros. and the film’s writer/director Greta Gerwig their biggest hits to date in the territory. Barbie is currently the sixth highest grossing film of all-time in the UK and Ireland.
Warner Bros. were the no.1 distributor, scoring two of the top five films, 23 new releases, £239m box office and achieved 23% overall market share. A strong slate across the year included no.1 film Barbie; Roald Dahl musical prequel Wonka; sequels Creed III, The Nun 2 and The Meg 2; and UK dramas Saltburn, The Great Escaper and Allelujah.
Sitting just behind Warner in the second spot were Universal with £225m and an impressive roster of 32 releases including Oppenheimer, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Asteroid City and TAR. Walt Disney also crossed £200m at the box office, the first time three distributors have achieved this feat since 2017.
Global box office estimates from Gower Street Analytics put the worldwide yearly total at $34bn (vs.$26bn in 2022), an impressive 31% increase on last year. The UK and Ireland retained its position as the leading European box office market and was the fourth biggest worldwide, behind only the US & Canada, China and Japan.*
For further detail on 2023 box office results see full press releases from Comscore and Gower Street Analytics
*These results are excluding India as Comscore and GSA tracking is incomplete for the territory