UK cinema admissions increased 2.3% in 2024 compared to the previous year, but the average ticket price fell, according to figures from the Cinema Advertising Association.
The total number of admissions in 2024 was 126.5 million.
Overall, the box office takings for 2024 have remained flat year-on-year across UK-Ireland, at £1.06bn – just 0.2%, or £3m down from 2023, and 8% up on 2022.
December was the strongest month of the year, with 15.7 million admissions, almost 36% up on the same month in 2023. November admissions were 77% up on the same month in 2023.
Films released in November that boosted the box office at the end of the year included Paramount’s Gladiator II, Universal’s Wicked and Studiocanal’s Paddington In Peru. December saw the release of Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King and Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog 3.
Cross-industry body Cinema First, which promotes UK cinemagoing, points towards the success of the tentpole releases from the summer onwards as confirming that when the films are there, audiences return.
“When great films are combined with all of the investments we have seen in the modern cinema environment, audiences follow their passion for a fantastic trip out,” said Iain Jacob, chair of Cinema First.
France is understood to be the only other European territory in which admissions rose in 2024, up 0.5% on 2023 according to Comscore/CNC figures.
Average ticket price has gone down from £7.92 in 2023 to £7.73 in 2024. One factor in this change was that the average ticket price was boosted in 2023 by the high number of premium tickets sold for Barbie and Oppenheimer.
Top performing films at the UK-Ireland box office in 2024 were Disney’s Inside Out 2 (£59.2m), Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine (£57.5m) and Universal’s Wicked (£55.7m).
The best-performing titles from a non-US studio distributor were Studiocanal’s Paddington In Peru (£34.2m) and Back To Black (£12.4m), followed by Studiocanal’s Wicked Little Letters (£9.6m) and Black Bear’s Longlegs (£8.1m).
The 2025 release slate includes Universal’s Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, Disney’s Captain America: Brave New World, Paramount’s Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning, Sony’s 28 Years Later, Apple/Warner Bros’ F1, Warner Bros’ Superman, Universal’s Wicked: For Good and Disney’s Avatar: Fire And Ash.
“2025 will be a big year for UK cinema,” predicted Jacob.
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