Total box office revenue across UK & Ireland in 2022 was £978,529,874, an increase of 64% versus 2021’s total of £597,075,205.
After reopening in May 2021, cinemas remained subject to a variety of COVID-19 restrictions going into 2022 due to the emergence of the Omicron variant. While rules varied across the UK nations, these included the wearing of compulsory face coverings, proof of vaccination, the maintenance of social distancing/capacity restrictions, limits on group sizes and evening curfews. The UK Government confirmed the end of all COVID-19 restrictions only in late February 2022.
Prior to the pandemic, annual box office had exceeded £1.3 billion in each of the five years up to 2019. While box office is demonstrably recovering year-on-year, full recovery is now anticipated by 2024.
Year |
Annual Box Office |
% Change vs Prior Year |
Number of New Releases |
2017 |
£1,380,541,205 |
+ 3.7% |
926 |
2018 |
£1,377,835,217 |
– 0.2% |
924 |
2019 |
£1,353,637,851 |
– 1.8% |
938 |
2020 |
£323,350,946 |
– 76.1% |
445 |
2021 |
£597,075,205 |
+ 84.7% |
503 |
2022 |
£978,529,874 |
+ 63.9% |
911 |
911 new titles were released into cinemas in 2022, a significant increase from 503 in 2021 and almost returning to the peak level of 938 releases in 2019. However, there remains a marked reduction in blockbuster releases due to production delays: pre-pandemic, 2019 saw 186 ‘saturation’ releases (those films opening in 250+ cinemas) while the equivalent figure for 2022 was 135 saturation releases. As the average revenue for each saturation release was £6.4m in 2022 and £6.9m in 2019, it is estimated that a return to 2019 levels of saturation releases could add £325m–£350m to annual box office totals.
Final 2022 admission figures are not yet available but are likely to exceed 125 million, up from 80 million in 2021.
Of the five nations making up the UK & Ireland territory, the Republic of Ireland had the strongest recovery in 2022. Its box office was 89% higher than 2021 after being subject to the strongest winter COVID-19 restrictions a year ago, including a 50% capacity cap and 8pm curfew. Northern Ireland box office rose by 73% year-on-year, with Scotland up 68%, Wales up 63% and England up 61%.
Top 10 films in UK & Ireland in 2022: Data from 7th January 2022 to 5th January 2023 1. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount): £83.6m 2. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney): £51.4m – still on release 3. Minions: The Rise Of Gru (Universal): £46.9m 4. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (Disney): £42.0m 5. The Batman (Warner Bros): £40.7m 6. Thor: Love And Thunder (Disney): £37.4m 7. Jurassic World: Dominion (Universal): £35.1m 8. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney): £33.6m – still on release 9. Sing 2 (Universal): £32.9m 10. Elvis (Warner Bros): £27.6m |
The Top 10 films accounted for 43.8% of 2022’s total revenue.
Eight of the Top 10 releases came in the first seven months of the year, kick-started in January by Sing 2 and followed by The Batman in March. The box office really ignited from May with Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness and Top Gun: Maverick, and held well throughout the early summer period with Jurassic World: Dominion and Elvis releasing in June and Minions: The Rise Of Gru and Thor: Love And Thunder in early July. Q3 was a quieter period but still delivered a range of £10m+ titles for different audience sectors including DC League Of Super-Pets, Smile, Bullet Train and Don’t Worry Darling. The year ended strongly with two of the Top 10 films releasing in the final eight weeks of the year: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way Of Water (both still on release).
Disney had the most titles in the Top 10, led by Avatar: The Way Of Water at No.2. The same pattern was seen across all regions including North America, International and Global box office where Disney also released four of the Top 10 films of 2022. Released in mid-December, the long-awaited Avatar sequel is likely to add a further £20m to achieve around £70m by the end of its UK & Ireland run and is targeting $2 billion globally.
Top Gun: Maverick will hold off Avatar to retain its position as the top 2022 release and we will see Tom Cruise on screen again soon in July’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Disney and Universal were neck-and-neck vying to be the No.1 distributor in 2022, with Disney just taking it based on the standard 52-week reporting period. Results were so close that Universal ranks at no.1 when viewing the calendar year (1st January to 31st December). Across 18 new releases and 40 pre-2022 holdovers, Disney achieved £221.8m (22.7% of the total market), just above Universal’s £219.3m (22.4%). As well as their four titles in the Top 10, Disney had success with Lightyear, The Banshees Of Inisherin and Death On The Nile. Universal had a very diverse slate with eight titles grossing over £5m; as well as their three Top 10 titles they released Belfast, Downton Abbey: A New Era, The Bad Guys, Ticket To Paradise and Nope. Warner Bros and Paramount battled for third and fourth positions with 16.0% and 15.5% share respectively – both up from last year. Sony was close behind at No.5 with 12.0% market share.
In total, 136 different distributors released films this year. The Top 10 distributors’ films accounted for 93.6%, returning to normal levels following 2021’s high of 95.7%.
Top 10 British/Irish films in UK & Ireland in 2022: Data from 7th January 2022 to 5th January 2023 1. Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical (Sony): £22.7m – still on release 2. Belfast (Universal): £15.6m 3. Downton Abbey: A New Era (Universal): £15.1m 4. The Banshees Of Inisherin (Disney): £9.1m – still on release 5. Prima Facie – NT Live (Theatre) (National Theatre): £5.4m 6. Operation Mincemeat (Warner Bros): £5.3m 7. The Duke (Warner Bros): £5.2m 8. Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris (Universal): £4.9m 9. See How They Run (Disney): £4.8m 10. Living (Lionsgate): £3.6m – still on release |
Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast was the first major local release of the year in January 2022 and held the top spot until Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical released in November. While last year’s British films chart was led by the year’s top film No Time To Die, none of 2022’s local productions cracked the overall Top 10. Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical ranked No.13 in-year; it is still playing well and should add another £5m+ over the coming weeks.
Universal released three of the Top 10 local productions, with Belfast and Downton Abbey: A New Era each proving popular. Across all of these British and Irish releases there is a strong skew to older audiences, reflecting the mature storytelling, talent on screen and period settings. In our PostTrak exit poll, five of these titles attracted the oldest audiences of the year: The Duke (average attendee age was 41, 26% were aged 55+), Downton Abbey: A New Era, Belfast, Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris and Living. As we continue to rebuild audiences following the pandemic, these are the films that most successfully motivated older cinemagoers to return.
Phil Clapp, Chief Executive of the UK Cinema Association commented, “While there remain challenges ahead, 2022 represented for our members a significant further step on the road to recovery after the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic. The response of audiences to a broad range of titles, the support of distribution colleagues and the strong slate already in prospect for 2023 and beyond mean that we can all look to the future with renewed confidence.”
Andy Leyshon, Chief Executive at the Film Distributors’ Association added, “2022’s box office results were another strong marker for sector recovery, and with an impressive and diverse release slate lined up for cinemas across the whole year, 2023 should continue that upward trajectory. Distributors and exhibitors will continue to work together to deliver cinemagoers the best out-of-home experience and we are now on the right track to recapturing those territory box office highs witnessed before the pandemic.”
Note: The 2022 date range was Friday 7th January 2022 to Thursday 5th January 2023 (52 playweeks).
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