The 2024 UK box office to date has largely managed to keep pace with the average box office takings from previous years, both before and during the pandemic.
From July to September, the 2024 box office was up 24% compared to the post-pandemic box office (2021-2023) and only 12% lower than the pre-pandemic box office (2015-2019).
However, due to a lack of bigger releases in September, the weekly 2024 box office fell below £10 million. September's box office takings have been affected by titles such as Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis underperforming compared to pre-release expectations.
UK box office analysis shows that cinema takings from July through to September this year are largely on track with previous years, although takings were down significantly last month. pic.twitter.com/Q8CoC74wR2
— FILMHOUNDS Magazine (@filmhoundsmag) October 13, 2024
In the final week of September, the 2024 box office posted a total gross of £6,271,357 according to the British Film Institute (BFI). This compares to £15,083,418.33 in the post-pandemic era for the same weekend.
During August, 2024 tracks almost identically with the pre-pandemic box office. However, this year has also seen a 30% fall from weekends 34 to 35 compared to only an average of 19% for 2015-2019. This drop also saw the 2024 box office fall below the post-pandemic era.
The 26th to the 28th of July (weekend 30) sizeably outperformed both the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic averages, with £24,363,638. This was likely helped by the release of several big titles during this weekend and the ones before it, including Disney's Deadpool & Wolverine and Universal's Despicable Me 4.
The biggest releases of the year so far include Disney's Inside Out 2. With £59.1 million, it is the third highest-grossing Pixar film in UK box office history, behind only Toy Story 4 (2019) with £66.2 million and Toy Story 3 (2010) with £74.1 million.
Meanwhile, Deadpool & Wolverine is the fourth-highest grossing Marvel title in the UK with £57.4 million. It is behind Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).