2021 box office figures confirm ongoing UK cinema recovery
Jan 14, 2022
Latest figures from industry data company Comscore confirm the ongoing recovery of the cinema sector, with UK and Ireland box office revenues 88 per cent up on the previous year.
Total box office revenue for UK cinemas and Ireland in 2021 was £556,852,179, against the 2020 total of £296,768,441. Cinemas across the UK were closed for the first 19 weeks of the year and only allowed to reopen from 17 May, with many even then subject to capacity restrictions in the months that followed.
Commenting on these numbers, UK Cinema Association chief executive Phil Clapp said: ‘While the challenges presented to the sector by COVID during 2021 were still all too apparent, the extraordinarily positive public response to the return of cinemagoing in the second half of the year, and in particular their recognition of the huge efforts made by cinema operators to ensure the continuing safety and comfort of audiences and team members alike, augur extremely well for a strong and continued recovery in 2022 and beyond.’
Top 10 films in UK & Ireland in 2021: Data from 1st January 2021 to 6th January 2022
1. No Time To Die (Universal): £96.5m
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony): £74.8m – still on release.
3. Dune (Warner Bros): £21.8m
4. Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (Disney): £21.2m
5. Peter Rabbit 2 (Sony): £20.4m
6. Black Widow (Disney): £18.8m
7. Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Sony): £18.0m
8. Free Guy (Disney): £16.8m 9. Fast & Furious
9 (Universal): £16.4m
10. Eternals (Disney): £14.8m
Top 10 British films in UK & Ireland in 2021: Data from 1st January 2021 to 6th January 2022
1. No Time To Die (Universal): £96.5m
2. The King’s Man (Disney): £4.4m – still on release
3. Spencer (STXfilms): £2.8m
4. People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan (Universal): £2.3m
5. Last Night In Soho (Universal): £2.3m
6. The Father (Lionsgate): £2.1m
7. The Courier (Lionsgate): £2.0m
8. Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone (20th Anniversary) (Warner Bros): £1.3m
9. The Night House (Disney): £977k
10. A Boy Called Christmas (Sky Cinema): £830k
The full Comscore Press Notice – covering figures for UK and Ireland – can be found here.
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Comment / Laurence Johnson, sustainability manager, Film London