UK Box Office smashes past £1 billion in record time

The UK box office has sailed past the £1 billion revenue mark in record time making 2016 the best year ever for ticket receipts leading up to October.

In fact, official figures released by comScore show that the milestone was reached on the 8th October, more than 2 weeks faster than 2015 thanks to strong demand for Disney releases such as ‘The Jungle Book’ and ‘Captain America: Civil War’. Audiences also flocked to see ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ in September pushing receipts higher. With more big title releases heading to UK cinemas this Christmas including the upcoming ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’, 2016 could be an outstanding year for the theatrical business.

In a separate report, the UK recorded its best tourist season for the summer on record, which may have contributed to increased demand at UK cinemas with overseas visitors spending more in the UK.

This year’s top grossing films in the UK also include Disney’s ‘Finding Dory’, ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’.

As of 2015, the UK’s box office revenue in terms of overall size ranked 3rd worldwide, behind the US and China.

Thanks to generous tax breaks and the weakening of the pound, demand for UK production services is expected to rise over the next couple of years during the Brexit uncertainty.