UK-Ireland box office finished 2% ahead of a strong April 2025, in a promising sign of further post-pandemic and post-strikes recovery for exhibitors.
According to figures from Comscore, the April 2026 period brought in £102.5m, up 2% on the £100.3m over the same period last year; and up 68% on the £60.8m from April 2024.
The year-to-date is at £365m, up 7% on 2025; with three of the four months so far running ahead of last year.
| Rank | Film (origin) | Distributor | Release date | 3/4/26-30/4/26 total | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (US) | Universal | 3/4/26 | £34.7m | £34.7m |
| 2 | Michael (US) |
Universal | 24/4/26 | £16.1m | £16.1m |
| 3 | Project Hail Mary (US) | Sony | 20/3/26 | £13.9m | £32.4m |
| 4 | The Drama (US) | EFD | 3/4/26 | £9.6m | £9.6m |
| 5 | The Magic Faraway Tree (UK) |
EFD | 27/3/26 | £8.5m | £14m |
| 6 | Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (US) | Warner Bros | 17/4/26 | £2m | £2m |
| 7 | Hoppers (US) | Disney | 6/3/26 | £2m | £14m |
| 8 | Akira (Japan) | Anime Ltd | 17/4/26 | £1.3m | £1.3m |
| 9 | All My Sons - NT Live 2026 (UK) | NT Live | 10/4/26 | £784,792 | £784,792 |
| 10 | You, Me & Tuscany (US) |
Universal | 10/4/26 | £754,496 | £754,496 |
Two Universal titles lead the way in the past month: animated sequel The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with £34.7m; and Michael Jackson title Michael with £16.1m. Both set box office high marks, with Mario Galaxy recording the highest opening of the year so far with £9.4m; and Michael taking the biggest opening ever for a music biopic with £8.4m.
There was a more even spread of high-grossing titles this year than last year, when A Minecraft Movie dominated the month with £52m, over half the monthly total.
This year, Project Hail Mary added £13.9m to its total in April, as part of a £32.4m cume having opened on March 20. It is the second-highest-grossing title of the year behind Mario Galaxy, the highest-grossing Amazon MGM Studios production ever, and the second-highest-grossing Ryan Gosling film ever behind Barbie (£95.7m).
Entertainment Film Distributors (EFD) had a great month with The Drama (£9.6m) and The Magic Faraway Tree (£8.5m) landing at four and five respectively in the chart. The latter was one of two UK-produced releases in the monthly chart, alongside National Theatre Live’s release of the play All My Sons, in ninth place with £784,792.
Films released in 2026 now dominate the year-to-date chart, with Lionsgate’s The Housemaid and Disney’s Avatar: Fire And Ash the only remaining 2025 releases. Universal leads the way among distributors with three, alongside two each for Sony and Disney, and one each for Warner Bros, Lionsgate, and EFD.
| Rank | Film (origin) | Distributor | Release date | 2026 gross | Total to date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (US) | Universal | 3/4/26 | £34.7m | £34.7m |
| 2 | Project Hail Mary (US) | Sony | 20/3/26 | £32.4m | £32.4m |
| 3 | Wuthering Heights (US) | Warner Bros | 13/2/26 | £25.3m | £25.3m |
| 4 | The Housemaid (US) | Lionsgate | 26/12/25 | £23.5m | £32.2m |
| 5 | Hamnet (UK-US) | Universal | 9/1/26 | £19m | £19m |
| 6 | Michael (US) | Universal | 24/4/26 | £16.1m | £16.1m |
| 7 | Avatar: Fire And Ash (US) | Disney | 19/12/25 | £15.5m | £42.8m |
| 8 | The Magic Faraway Tree (UK) | EFD | 27/3/26 | £14m | £14m |
| 9 | Hoppers (US) | Disney | 6/3/26 | £14m | £14m |
| 10 | Goat (US) |
Sony | 13/2/26 | £13.3m | £13.3m |
Disney’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 gets May off to a fashionable start, opening in 729 cinemas from today. Amazon MGM Studios comedy The Sheep Detectives, distributed by Sony, lands on May 8, the same date as Warner Bros’ Mortal Kombat II. Later in the month are Disney’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu, UK romantic comedy Finding Emily, and Paramount horror Passenger, all on May 22; with John Carney’s Power Ballad and A24 horror Backrooms on May 29.
The coming month also sees several major re-releases, including a 40th anniversary re-release of Top Gun from May 13, with Top Gun: Maverick on May 15, both through Paramount; with Universal’s Shrek re-release also starting on the latter date.
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