Movie magic: forecasts of first £1bn box office since pandemic

The UK box office is forecast to top £1bn next year for the first time in six years, but cinema bosses still say the industry will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2026.

- Mark Sweney

The pace of the hoped-for recovery at the box office was thrown into disarray by the Hollywood actors' and writers' strikes last summer, which delayed the release of a number of blockbusters. As a result, the UK box office is forecast by the research company Omdia to have declined marginally this year to £931m.

This is down from £978m in 2023 and marks the first annual contraction since 2020, when the Covid pandemic forced cinemas to close.

The strikes have delivered a financial blow to cinema operators aiming to reignite cinema-going habits after the pandemic, during which the UK's largest operator, Cineworld, entered bankruptcy protection in the US and downsized its British operation when it was unable to pay its huge debts.