2023 is over, with December bringing to a close a year of uneven UK box office performances compared to previous years. The combined weekend totals for the top 15 films have continually crisscrossed with the average weekend box office totals of 2021-2022 (post-pandemic average) and only occasionally surpassed the weekend box office average of 2015-2019 (pre-pandemic average) — unadjusted for inflation. UK cinemas aren’t experiencing box office receipts like before.
This is visible on the graphs below, with the pre-pandemic being represented as the red line, and the post-pandemic represented as the yellow line. 2023 has been an overall improvement, showing the box office is sporadically recovering.
Note: All figures courtesy of the British Film Institute.
Table of Contents
Weekend 1 – December 1-3
UK Box Office Performance December 1-3
Weekend 1 saw the combined box office total for the top 15 films in 2023 continue to do well. A combined total of £9,573,957 came in over the weekend. While there were no new big blockbusters to drive sales and Napoleon struggling in its second weekend, good holds for Wish and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes prevented the box office from falling below the combined total of the top 15 films for the post-pandemic period of £6,654,490.50. 2023 increased this by 44% overall.
This impressive total doesn’t quite match the pre-pandemic of £14,616,276, meaning that the 2023 number is a 34% drop overall. But as the box office is still recovering from the pandemic, battling a difficult economy, and many entertainment alternatives, this is a welcome sight.
Early December is usually a slow period for cinemas, evidenced by the steep drop pre-pandemic and more muted but still noticeable fall pre-pandemic. With Wonka opening in the UK on December 8, the box office is set for a sweet case injection before Christmas and is poised to overtake the pre-pandemic total for the first time since September.
#uk #boxoffice update
A bit of a dip compared to last week, but the box office is comfortably ahead of where it was last year, and with the release of #Wonka it might surpass the 2015-2019 avg next week.
Overall in a good place for now.
Numbers from @BFI pic.twitter.com/mlWE7LCp2u
— Kieran (@KieranDavidBurt) December 7, 2023
Weekend 2 – December 8-10
UK Box Office Performance December 8-10
Weekend 2 saw the combined box office total for the top 15 films in 2023 overtake the pre-pandemic average for the first time since the start of September, with the top 15 films posting a combined total of £13,653,020. It’s largely driven by the fantastic £8,904,750 opening of Wonka. It balloons past the combined top 15 total for the same weekend of the pre-pandemic era, which was £9,556,813.60, an increase of 43%.
The combined total of the post-pandemic period was £5,285,679.50. 2023 came in at over double that, by a whopping 158%. It’s a pleasing number and one that shows that around Christmas is still a desirable time to go to the cinema.
So why has this weekend been so low in the past? It was the third lowest for the pre-pandemic period and the third lowest for the post-pandemic period. This is because many studios know that a massive blockbuster (usually from Disney) will roll over the competition in the following weeks, so they avoid releasing their films close to it to avoid financial loss.
2023 bucks this trend, as this year has no huge blockbusters that will annihilate competitors. Mid-sized blockbusters are filling the gap instead, confident they won’t trample over each other.
The weekend of Dec 8-10 hugely increased its total when the box office usually struggles.
Compared to 2021-2022 it was 158% higher and 43% higher than 2015-2019. But unlike previous years 2023 won’t have a huge film to end on.
Numbers from @BFI pic.twitter.com/zCktFzvPZY
— Kieran (@KieranDavidBurt) December 22, 2023
Weekend 3 – December 15-17
UK Box Office Performance December 15-17
Weekend 3 saw the combined box office total for the top 15 films in 2023 come in at £10,314,511, falling below the pre-pandemic weekend total of £15,853,260.80. That’s a 35% drop, something cinema owners won’t be happy about.
After staying above the same box office weekend total for the post-pandemic era for four weeks, 2023 has once again fallen below the post-pandemic era total for Weekend 50 as it couldn’t overcome the £24,402,831.50 number. This is a massive 58% drop in comparison, a disappointment for cinemas.
This overall drop-off is due to a combination of reasons, a relatively middling weekend for 2023 with no new blockbusters, the ramping up of the Christmas period in the pre-pandemic era, and a huge spike for the post-pandemic era.
Weekend 50 in both the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic era was successful. Before the pandemic, the box office was either waiting for a Star Wars film to deliver a huge opening, for example, in 2019, or one released on Weekend 50. In 2017, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi opened on Weekend 50, and drove the combined box office total of £31,884,752.
In the post-pandemic era, Weekend 50 saw the opening of Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, driving the box office total to £34,709,243. In 2022 Avatar: The Way of Water drove the combined box office total to £14,096,420. As mentioned, it fell again for the second year in a row to £10,314,511. A disappointing trend that 2024 will do well to avoid.
Studios usually release highly anticipated blockbuster films right before Christmas. While at first glance Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom might be this for 2023, general audience fatigue of the superhero subgenre presents a major hurdle for the film to break out, and the feeling surrounding the film is not one of hype and anticipation.
Turning back to Star Wars, it holds part of why there won’t be a similar spike in the combined box office totals as in previous years. Disney likes to release Star Wars films around this period, and, had things gone to plan, Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron would have opened on December 22. But the film has been indefinitely delayed, and so has the money it would have brought in.
#UK #BoxOffice #update
A disappointing dip this week for the box office, as no new films sparked life into cinemas.Compared to 2015-2019 and 2021-2022, 2023 looks even worse as it doesn’t have any winter mega hits as in previous years.
Numbers from @BFI pic.twitter.com/0zDP80RpDN
— Kieran (@KieranDavidBurt) December 20, 2023
Weekend 4 – December 22-24
UK Box Office Performance December 22-24
Weekend 4 saw the combined box office total for the top 15 films of 2023 jump up to £13,842,645. While Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was released this weekend, it only contributed a total of £2,484,442, a disappointing 52% drop from the first Aquaman which opened to £5,230,285 back in 2018. No, the real box office push came from Wonka, which had a 14% increase in business over last week, topping the UK box office at £7,234,062.
Getting the negative out of the way first, when compared to the pre-pandemic period, the 2023 box office total lost, as the 2015-2019 figure stands at £27,837,921.60. 2023’s box office is about 50% lower than this by comparison. This is largely because the pre-pandemic period saw the release of large Star Wars films which helped drive the box office and maintain its health afterwards.
It’s the post-pandemic period that this weekend has outshone. The 2023 box office total easily beat the post-pandemic average of £8,391,930, meaning this year’s total has increased by a whopping 65%. This might come as a surprise, as there isn’t a big holiday film like Spider-Man No Way Home in 2021 and Avatar: The Way of Water, but because in 2021 Christmas Day was on a Saturday, and in 2022 it was a Sunday, people were at home spending time with their families, and not necessarily at the cinema.
As Christmas Day in 2023 was on a Monday, it meant that people had time to go to the cinemas (once they had done their Christmas shopping of course) and it’s clear they did so. But it also shows that even though there wasn’t a big holiday film to draw large crowds, people still enjoy going to the cinemas during the Christmas holiday period.
#uk #BoxOffice update!
As Christmas Day didn’t fall on a weekend in 2023, there was a huge 65% increase from the same weekend in 2021-2022. What a difference it makes.
This weekend is down 50% when compared to the same weekend in 2015-2019, not great.
Numbers from @BFI pic.twitter.com/oBRL1QpCCp
— Kieran (@KieranDavidBurt) January 3, 2024
Weekend 5 – December 29-31
UK Box Office Performance December 29-31
Weekend 52, the final week of the year, saw the box office total for the top 15 films continue to climb, reaching a total of £16,601,345. The last time the UK box office hit this total was back in the summer, on the way back down from the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon. Wonka continued to hold well, only dropping 8% from the weekend prior. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom continued to slide, dropping 30%, adding even more credence to the superhero fatigue narrative.
When compared to the pre-pandemic period, Weekend 52 in 2023 is 18% lower than the same weekend in 2015-2019, a drop that shows that this period is recovering after the pandemic. What’s more promising is the same weekend in the pre-pandemic period dropped from Weekend 51 by 13%, but 2023 saw Weekend 52 grow by 20% when compared to Weekend 51.
Looking at the post-pandemic period, 2023 grew by 23% when compared to the same weekend in 2021-2022. It’s a fantastic result, showing that despite the lack of a big holiday blockbuster the box office can still perform at this time of year. It’s a positive note to end the year on, and hopefully, 2024 can be less uneven and more reliably stay above the post-pandemic average and even surpass the pre-pandemic average.
Final 2023 #uk #BoxOffice update
2023 closes out on a high, with the final weekend growing after Christmas largely due to #wonka‘s great hold.
The box office total for 2023 was 23% higher than the 2021-2022 avg and -18% than the 2015-2019 avg. Not a bad end.
Numbers from @BFI pic.twitter.com/rp3q3Qtg5U
— Kieran (@KieranDavidBurt) January 3, 2024
