Figures published by Comscore demonstrate a good year for Irish and British cinemas, with revenues mostly driven by Barbenheimer attracting audiences en masse

Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan, which grossed €68.2 million at the UK and Irish box office

According to figures recently published by Comscore, in 2023, box-office revenues in Ireland and the UK grew by 8.3% on 2022 figures. In detail, the data collected between 6 January 2023 and 4 January 2024 show that the Irish box office recorded the biggest year-on-year growth, with a remarkable 13%, followed by Wales (10%), Northern Ireland (9%), England (8%) and Scotland (8%).

On the whole, UK-Irish box-office revenues rose from €1.14 billion in 2022 to €1.23 billion in 2023. However, it is worth mentioning that the 2023 figure is still 23.5% below the two countries’ pre-pandemic overall box-office revenue (€1.57 million).

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Last year, the number of new theatrical releases was 1,013 (as against 929 in 2022 and 938 in 2019). Notably, the Comscore figures show that 2023 was marked by a higher number of so-called “saturation releases” – ie, titles screened by more than 250 cinemas (174, or 28.9% up on 2022 figures). However, this was still below 2019 levels (186). The data suggest that this is a direct consequence of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, which began on 14 July and ended on 9 November.

The report also zooms in on the impact of the Barbenheimer cultural phenomenon. Interestingly, the document highlights that social-media posts mentioning Greta Gerwig's and Christopher Nolan’s pictures “achieved more than 40 million interactions globally on a single day in July”.

Moreover, Comscore underscores that there has been “no strong sign of the cost-of-living crisis affecting cinema-going”, as cinema tickets remained “seemingly affordable to the majority”.

Barbie (USA) snatched the top spot at the Irish-British box office, grossing €111 million overall. In Ireland, Barbie has also emerged as the highest-grossing film of all time. Nolan’s Oppenheimer [+see also:
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The 2023 top ten is rounded off by Paul King’s Wonka (UK/USA, €57.2 million and still on release); James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (USA, €42.7 million); Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K Thompson’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (USA, €35.7 million); Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid (USA, €31.9 million); Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (USA, €30.9 million); Joel Crawford’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (USA, €30.2 million); and James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water (USA, €29.3 million).