The U.K. and Ireland box office soared to £160.7 million ($205.1 million) in July thanks to “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” according to numbers released by Comscore.
The July box office was 78% higher than June and 27% higher than July 2022. Year-to-date 2023 is currently running 4% ahead of the same period in 2022, a step up from the low of -7% in June.
After just two weeks on release, July’s highest-grossing film is Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” With a total to date of £59.6 million it has overtaken “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (£54.5 million) to become the biggest release of the year so far. It has entered the top 25 highest-grossing films of all time in the territory, passing “Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker” (£58.2 million). When compared to the two biggest post-pandemic releases, it is tracking 34% ahead of the highest-grossing film of 2022, “Top Gun: Maverick” (£44.5 million at the same point of release) and is just 1% behind 2021’s biggest title, James Bond film “No Time To Die” (£60.1 million after two weeks).
Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” placed second with £33.7 million. It is Nolan’s fifth-biggest release of all-time, overtaking “Interstellar” (£21 million) and only 6% behind “Inception” (£35.8 million). It is currently the fourth-highest grossing film of the year so far, 12% above “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” (£30.2 million) and 8% behind “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” (£36.7 million).
In third place for July was “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” with £21.8 million. The Tom Cruise vehicle scored the highest opening of the franchise with a debut of £10.3 million (including £4 million in previews) and is currently the second-best performing title in the series, on course to cross “Mission: Impossible Fallout” (£24.4 million) to claim the top spot.
In fourth position was Pixar’s “Elemental,” which collected £13.2 million and has now overtaken the lifetime total of the previous Pixar film “Lightyear” (£10.4 million).
Rounding off the top five was Harrison Ford’s “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny,” which opened in late June and added £9.3 million in July, for a total to date of £19.4 million.
Current releases in August include “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” (Paramount), “Joy Ride” (Lionsgate) and “The Meg 2” (Warner Bros.). Coming up during the month are “Gran Turismo: based On A True Story” (Sony). “Haunted Mansion” (Disney), “Puffin Rock and the New Friends” (Vertigo), “Strays” (Universal), “Blue Beetle,” “The Dive” (Vertigo) and “Theatre Camp” (Disney).
U.K. & Ireland – Top 10 Titles of July 2023
(July 7 to Aug. 3)
U.K. & Ireland – Top 10 Titles Year-to-date
(Jan. 6 to Aug. 3)
