'Lilo & Stitch'

Source: Disney

‘Lilo & Stitch’

UK-Ireland box office takings were up 50% in May compared to last year; with year-to-date takings now up 20%, as cinemas continue the post-pandemic and post-strikes recovery.

Total revenue for May 2025 was £109.1m, 50% higher than the £72.7m from May 2024. Figures are from Comscore.

Cumulative gross for the year is now £455.5m, up 20% on £380.4m at the same point in 2024; and up 8% on the same stage in 2023.

Six of the last seven months have now shown year-on-year growth, giving further evidence of audiences returning to cinemas after a rocky few years.

After A Minecraft Movie dominated the April chart, there was a more even spread in May, with three films each taking over £15m.

UK-Ireland May 2025 top 10
 Rank Title (origin) Distributor Release date May totalTotal 
1  Lilo & Stitch (US)
 Disney  23/5/25  £27.6m  £27.6m
 Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (US)
 Paramount  23/5/25  £19.2m  £19.2m
 Thunderbolts* (US)  Disney  2/5/25  £16m  £16m
 Final Destination: Bloodlines (US)
 Warner Bros  16/5/25  £10m  £10m
 Sinners (US)
 Warner Bros  18/4/25  £7m  £15.8m
 A Minecraft Movie (Swe-US)  Warner Bros  4/4/25  £4.4m  £56.5m
 Karate Kid: Legends (US)   Sony  30/5/25  £3.2m  £3.2m
 The Salt Path (UK)
 Black Bear  30/5/25  £3m  £3m
 The Phoenician Scheme (Ger-US)  Universal  23/5/25   £2.3m  £2.3m
10   Ocean With David Attenborough (UK)  Altitude  9/5/25  £1.5m  £1.5m

Disney’s Lilo & Stitch was the clear frontrunner, with £27.6m from just two weeks on release – more than double the £13.1m total of the original 2002 animated film. The new Lilo & Stitch is already the third-highest grossing release of 2025, behind only A Minecraft Movie (£56.4m) and Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (£46.3m). 

It is also ahead of several Disney live-action remakes, including this year’s Snow White (£11.5m), 2019’s Dumbo (£25.1m) and 2023’s The Little Mermaid (£27.4m).

Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning took second spot with £19.2m for the month, the fourth-highest grossing 2025 release so far. It is also fourth of eight titles in the franchise, although will expect to overtake Rogue Nation (£21.2m) and Fallout (£24.4m) before its end, and perhaps even Dead Reckoning Part One (£26.6m).

Disney’s Thunderbolts* made £16m in May, and is currently the 32nd of 36 Marvel Cinematic Universe titles by box office.

Disney holds four of the highest-grossing films of the year so far, with Lilo & Stitch, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts* and 2024 release Mufasa: The Lion King.

Universal has three with Bridget Jones, Dog Man and Nosferatu; while Warner Bros has two with top title A Minecraft Movie and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners – the latter making it into the monthly top 10 for a second consecutive month, with £7m in May.

Year to date top 10, 2025
 Rank Title (origin) Distributor Release date 2025 gross to date Total
1  A Minecraft Movie (Swe-US)  Warner Bros  4/4/25  £56.5m  £56.5m
 Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (Fr-UK-US)  Universal  14/2/25  £46.4m  £46.4m
 Lilo & Stitch (US)  Disney  23/5/25  £27.6m   £27.6m
 Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (US)  Paramount  23/5/25  £19.2m  £19.2m
 Captain America: Brave New World (US)
 Disney  14/2/25  £18m  £18m
 Thunderbolts* (US)
 Disney  2/5/25  £16m  £16m
 Mufasa: The Lion King (US)
 Disney  20/12/24  £15.9m  £33.4m
 Sinners (US)
 Warner Bros  18/4/25  £15.8m  £15.8m
 Dog Man (US)  Universal  7/2/25  £13.7m  £13.7m
10   Nosferatu (US)
 Universal  3/1/25  £13m  £13m

In June, Lionsgate’s Ballerina starring Ana de Armas will look to continue the John Wick franchise trend of each film making more than the last. Universal opens live-action adaptation How To Train Your Dragon from Friday 13; while the end of the month is packed with films holding high-gross potential: Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later (Sony, June 19), Elio (Disney, June 20), F1 The Movie (Warner Bros, June 25) and M3GAN 2.0 (Universal, June 27).