UK box office figures are the total ticket sales a film takes in British cinemas, reported in pounds sterling. The figures, based on data from the analytics company Comscore, are published every week as a Friday-to-Sunday chart by the British Film Institute (BFI), the UK Cinema Association and trade outlets. The BFI also publishes quarterly and annual official statistics, while the number of tickets sold, known as admissions, is tracked separately by the Cinema Advertising Association (CAA). Box office and admissions measure different things, and that difference is the key to reading cinema headlines correctly.
This guide explains how UK box office figures are put together and published, and how to make sense of them, using real 2026 data as examples. Figures are as of October 2026.
What box office actually measures
“Box office” (also called the gross) means money taken for cinema tickets. It tells you how much was spent, not how many people saw a film.
Admissions count tickets sold. The two can move very differently. In July 2026, according to Comscore figures reported by The Media Leader, UK and Ireland box office reached £178.2 million, 35% more than in the same five-week period of 2025, while admissions rose by only 9% to 14.1 million. Tom Linay of the cinema advertising company Digital Cinema Media put most of the gap down to strong attendance at premium-priced IMAX screenings of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Pricier tickets push up revenue faster than attendance.
Where UK box office figures come from
The weekly and annual grosses published by the UK Cinema Association, the trade body for cinema operators, are credited to Comscore. Its tables of annual totals are credited jointly to the Cinema Advertising Association and Comscore. The association’s monthly admissions figures are credited to the CAA, and its long-run historical admissions series to Omdia and the CAA.
Day-to-day reporting is done by distributors, trade magazines and industry bodies. The BFI produces the official statistics on the UK film industry.
How to read a weekend box office chart
Every week the BFI publishes a weekend box office report. It lists the top 15 films, plus all other British releases and any newly released titles. The figures cover Friday to Sunday and are given in pounds sterling. For each film the report shows the weekend gross, the change from the previous weekend and the total UK gross since release.
The chart for 23 to 25 October 2026, published by the UK Cinema Association from Comscore data, shows how this works in practice:
- New releases: the BBC sitcom spin-off Ghosts: The Possession of Button House opened at number one with £2,458,995. Because it was a new release, its weekend figure and its cumulative total were identical.
- Holdover titles: Street Fighter, in its second weekend, took £1,009,599, bringing its cumulative total to £4,282,557.
- Long runners: Verity, further down the chart, took £642,436 that weekend but had reached £10.8 million in total. A film can be a big earner overall long after it has dropped out of the top spots.
Previews and percentage drops
Reported opening figures often include takings from preview screenings held before the official release date. Digital Cinema Media’s weekly round-up said Ghosts’ opening of around £2.5 million included £48,000 from previews. This matters when comparing openings: a film with heavy preview activity can look stronger on its first weekend and then appear to fall further on its second.
The week-on-week percentage is the industry’s quick measure of word of mouth. Street Fighter’s second-weekend takings were 56% lower than its first, according to the same report.
UK, or UK and Ireland?
Trade reports often combine the UK and the Republic of Ireland into a single market, while other sources refer to the UK alone. Before comparing two figures, check which territory each one covers.
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The official statistics behind UK box office figures
Alongside the weekly charts, the BFI produces official statistics on the UK film industry under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. They are released at 9:30am on dates announced in advance, and include a series of UK box office reports:
- a first-quarter report (January to March), published in May
- a half-year report (January to June), published in August
- a nine-month report (January to September), published in the autumn
- a provisional full-year report, published early the following year
According to the government’s statistics announcement page, The UK Box Office: Full Year 2026 is due on 9 February 2027. It will cover admissions, the top 20 films, UK qualifying films and UK independent films. The BFI’s Research and Statistics Unit also publishes a Statistical Yearbook, with detailed tables on distribution, exhibition, audiences and the wider UK film economy, during the second half of each year.
How 2026 compares with recent years
Annual UK box office, as published by the UK Cinema Association from CAA and Comscore data, shows how far cinema fell during the pandemic and how it has recovered:
- 2019: £1,251.8 million
- 2020: £296.7 million
- 2021: £556.9 million
- 2022: £902.0 million
- 2023: £978.5 million
- 2024: £978.1 million
- 2025: £989.5 million
The year 2026 has been stronger. By the end of July, UK and Ireland takings had passed £783 million, up 18% on the same point in 2025, according to The Media Leader’s report of Comscore data. The UK Cinema Association said August 2026 brought more than 17 million admissions, the biggest August since 2018. CAA figures put September admissions at about 9.9 million.
For a longer view, admissions tell the story better than revenue. The UK Cinema Association’s historical series shows a post-war peak of about 1.64 billion admissions in 1946 and a low of 54 million in 1984.
Why box office records need context
Box office grosses are normally reported in cash terms and are not adjusted for inflation. A “record” therefore usually means the most money taken, not the most people through the doors. Older hits played to far larger audiences at much lower ticket prices. Premium formats such as IMAX, which cost more, can also lift a film’s gross well beyond what its audience size alone would suggest.
Reports also round their numbers differently. One outlet’s “£2.5 million” can be another’s £2,458,995. When you see headlines such as a romcom breaking UK box office records or a film topping the chart despite weak reviews, it helps to ask which territory, which days and which measure the claim is based on.
Frequently asked questions
Who publishes official UK box office figures?
The BFI publishes weekly weekend reports and official statistics on UK box office. The UK Cinema Association also publishes weekend top 10s and monthly and annual figures, credited to Comscore and the Cinema Advertising Association.
What days does the weekend box office cover?
Friday to Sunday. The BFI’s weekly reports give each film’s weekend gross for those three days, its change on the previous weekend and its running total.
Do opening weekend figures include previews?
Often, yes. Industry round-ups frequently say how much of an opening came from preview screenings. For example, Digital Cinema Media said £48,000 of the opening for Ghosts: The Possession of Button House came from previews.
How much did UK cinemas take in 2025?
£989.5 million, according to the UK Cinema Association’s annual table based on CAA and Comscore data. That was up 1.2% on 2024 but still below the £1,251.8 million taken in 2019.
Sources: BFI, Weekend box office figures (accessed 28 October 2026); BFI, Official statistics release calendar (accessed 28 October 2026); BFI, Statistical Yearbook (accessed 28 October 2026); GOV.UK, The UK Box Office: Full Year 2026 statistics announcement (accessed 28 October 2026); UK Cinema Association, Weekend top 10 box office (23–25 October 2026); UK Cinema Association, UK cinema admissions and box office (accessed 28 October 2026); UK Cinema Association, Monthly admissions (accessed 28 October 2026); UK Cinema Association, August admissions (12 September 2026); Digital Cinema Media, Box office round-up (27 October 2026); The Media Leader, July box office climbs 35% (2026).
