January saw an 18% year-on-year increase at the UK-Ireland box office, driven by the strong performance of Lionsgate’s The Housemaid and Universal’s Hamnet.
The month brought in £111.6m, up from £94.3m in January 2025; and 30% up on £85.2m from January 2024.
As in previous years, January 2026 relied to a decent extent on December holdover titles such as The Housemaid and Avatar: Fire And Ash.
Paul Feig’s domestic thriller The Housemaid put on an excellent £20.6m in January, as part of a £29.2m total.
The film is Lionsgate’s fifth-highest-grossing release ever in the UK & Ireland, and will shortly overtake The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (also £29.2m) for fourth.
It is Feig’s highest-grossing film in the territory ahead of Bridesmaids (£23.1m) and Last Christmas (£18.1m); and a career-high for star Sydney Sweeney, ahead of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (£21.5m) and her lead role in Anyone But You (£11.7m).
The Housemaid has also outperformed genre comparisons such as The Girl On The Train (£24m) and Gone Girl (£22.6m).
| Rank | Title (origin) | Distributor | Release date | 2/1/26-5/2/26 total | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Housemaid (US) | Lionsgate | 26/12/2025 | £20.6m | £29.2m |
| 2 | Hamnet (UK-US) |
Universal | 9/1/2026 | £15.8m | £15.8m |
| 3 | Avatar: Fire And Ash (US) | Disney | 19/12/2025 | £14.3m | £41.6m |
| 4 | Marty Supreme (US) | EFD | 26/12/2025 | £11.9m | £15.1m |
| 5 | 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (UK-US) | Sony | 16/1/2025 | £7.2m | £7.2m |
| 6 | Zootropolis 2 (US) |
Disney | 28/11/2025 | £7.2m | £32.7m |
| 7 | The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants (US) |
Paramount | 26/12/2025 | £3.4m | £8.3m |
| 8 | Song Sung Blue (US) | Universal | 2/1/2026 | £3.2m | £3.2m |
| 9 | Anaconda (US) |
Sony | 26/12/2025 | £2.7m | £5.6m |
| 10 | Shelter (UK-US) | Black Bear | 30/1/2026 | £1.4m | £1.4m |
UK-US co-production Hamnet takes second place for the month with £15.8m, having released on January 9. The adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel is the highest-grossing title for director Chloe Zhao, ahead of Eternals (£14.9m).
Fire And Ash took third place for the month with £14.3m, as part of £41.6m total. Its lifetime amount places it as the fourth-highest-grossing release of 2025, behind A Minecraft Movie (£56.8m), Wicked: For Good (£47m) and Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (£46.4m). However, at the same point of release, it sits 41% behind Avatar: The Way Of Water (£71.4m) and 38% behind 2009’s Avatar (£67.2m).
Entertainment Film Distributors’ Marty Supreme takes fourth spot with £11.9m, from £15.1m total – the highest-grossing A24-produced film in the UK & Ireland, well ahead of 2024’s Civil War (£6.4m).
Sony’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple rounds out the top five with £7.2m. Nia DaCosta’s zombie film scored the third-highest opening for an 18-rated horror with £3.4m, behind Hannibal (£6.4m) and Saw 3D (£3.6m). After three weeks on release, it is the second-highest-grossing film in the 28… franchise, ahead of 28 Days Later (£6.3m) and 53% behind last year’s 28 Years Later (£15.5m).
For exhibitors looking to continue this momentum into February, Disney thriller Send Help is opening on this first weekend, alongside Lionsgate’s The Strangers – Chapter 3.
The major tentpole of the month is Emerald Fennell’s romance Wuthering Heights starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, from February 13 for Warner Bros; with Sony action thriller Crime 101 with Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo launching the same day.
To come later in the month are Aidan Zamiri’s Charli XCX mockumentary The Moment from February 20 for Universal; and Scream 7 from February 27 for Paramount.
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