UK film production spend dipped in the first three months of 2026 to £563m, an 11% decrease on the £632m first reported for the equivalent period in 2025.
The total number of films that began principal photography during Q1 2026 was 35, two fewer than first reported for Q1 2025, according to figures from the BFI.
However, spend on local UK productions was up by 69%. UK films accounted for £44m (8% of the total) from 17 productions. These included Monumental Pictures’ Ghosts: The Possession Of Button House, Erebus Pictures and Delaval Film’s To Make Ends Meat, and Paradise City and The Fold’s A Town In Nova Scotia. The equivalent 2025 period brought in £26m from 13 productions.
Q1 2026 spend on inward investment was £501m, 89% of the total, from 12 productions. Inward investment films to commence production in Q1 2026 included Amazon MGM Studios’ Highlander, AGC Studios’ Phantom Son and Universal’s How To Train Your Dragon 2. This was down from £592m from 15 films in the equivalent 2025 period.
Co-production spend was £18m (3% of the total) from six features, including High End, a UK-Ireland-Switzerland co-production between Smoke Puppy, Cuala Films and Rita Productions. While the spend was up versus £13.6m in 2025’s equivalent period, three fewer co-productions were shot than in Q1 2025.
Total spend across film and high-end TV (HETV) production in the first quarter was £1.5bn, down from £1.6bn in the equivalent period for 2025.
HETV
Total UK spend on HETV programming to start shooting in Q1 2026 was £924m from 43 productions. This is a 7% decrease on the £990m in spend from 39 projects that was first reported for Q1 2025.
Spend on local HETV series dropped by 16% year-on-year. There were 17 local UK HETV series (40% of programmes) with a UK production spend of £162m (18% of total spend) in Q1 2026. These included BBC’s Blue Lights series four, Shy & Lola and Silent Witness series 30, plus ITV’s Saviour. This is down from 19 local productions with a UK production spend of £192m in last year’s equivalent period.
Inward investment productions and co-production combined spend was £761m from 26 shows, accounting for 82% of the total spend on HETV production and 60% of the number of programmes. In the equivalent 2025 period, this was £798m from 20 programmes.
Inward investment HETV production spend was £749m in Q1 2026 and included Amazon Prime Video’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Netflix’s Bridgerton season five, AppleTV’s The Buccaneers season three and The Husbands.
Co-production spend was £12m from four programmes that started production in Q1 2026, including Stan and Channel 4’s Careless and BBC and ABC TV’s Austin series three, both of which are UK-Australia co-productions.
UK spend on feature-length single productions – including inward investment and local UK projects financed by broadcasters and streaming platforms – may be captured in the statistics for HETV, as these productions may apply for certification to access the UK’s HETV tax relief, if they are unable to express theatrical intention.
The BFI presents Q1 2025 figures as first reported to enable like-for-like comparisons; however, production data tends to be revised upwards throughout the year owing to lags in reporting from some productions, especially for domestic UK features with budgets of less than £500,000.
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