It will come as no surprise that the UK box office in 2020 fell dramatically compared with previous years. According to the annual Comscore report, total UK box office takings reached just £323 million in 2020. While that sum remains significant, it represents a 76% decline from 2019. For context, the preceding five years each exceeded £1.3 billion, underlining the severe impact the COVID‑19 pandemic had on cinemas, distributors and audiences across the country.
Almost all of the highest‑performing films in 2020 were released before the first national lockdown in the UK in March. Of the top ten titles, nine opened prior to that shutdown. The single post‑lockdown release to make the list was Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, which earned a respectable £17.4 million and secured third place in the year’s domestic box office rankings.
The year’s highest grossing film in the UK was Sam Mendes’s 1917. Praised for its technical ambition and stripped‑down character work, the World War I epic captured audiences and critics alike, becoming the standout domestic performer of 2020. Distributor eOne saw the film top the chart with £44.0 million, a strong showing that dethroned Disney after several years of the studio dominating the UK market.
Second place was taken by the family action title Sonic the Hedgehog, which surprised many by grossing £19.3 million in the UK. That performance marked an encouraging result for films adapted from video games, a category that has often struggled to find consistent box office success. A sequel is already in active development, reflecting the film’s solid commercial reception.
Fourth on the list was Bad Boys for Life, the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reunion that proved to be the highest grossing English‑language film worldwide in 2020, with global receipts of $426.5 million. Its strong international appeal was mirrored in the UK, where it earned £16.2 million.
Oscar and BAFTA Best Picture winner Parasite also made a notable appearance on the UK top ten, placing eighth with £12.1 million. As the only foreign‑language film in the top ten, Parasite benefited from widespread critical acclaim and awards momentum, which helped secure its enduring box office presence. Earlier in the year it became the highest‑grossing foreign language film ever released in the UK, a milestone that reflects its crossover appeal.
The pandemic reshaped release strategies for major studios. Disney had fewer entries in 2020’s top ranks than in a typical year, with only Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (released in December 2019) making the top ten. Several of Disney’s major releases were delayed into 2021 or shifted to streaming: Marvel’s Black Widow was postponed, while titles such as Mulan and Pixar’s Soul were moved to Disney+ in response to theatre closures and shifting audience habits.
Overall, the 2020 UK box office list highlights how timing and release strategy determined which films could find an audience amid closures and capacity restrictions. Films that reached cinemas before the first lockdown naturally dominated the top positions, while later releases had to contend with intermittent openings, safety concerns and simultaneous digital releases.
The full list of films can be seen below:
1. 1917 – £44.0 million (eOne)
2. Sonic The Hedgehog – £19.3 million (Paramount)
3. Tenet – £17.4 million (Warner Bros)
4. Bad Boys For Life – £16.2 million (Sony)
5. Dolittle – £15.9 million (Universal)
6. Little Women – £15.3 million (Sony)
7. The Gentlemen – £12.2 million (Entertainment)
8. Parasite – £12.1 million (Studiocanal)
9. Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker – £11.3 million (Disney)
10. Jumanji: The Next Level – £11.0 million (Sony)
The 2020 figures underscore a year of disruption for the film industry: cinemas closed, release calendars were rewritten, and streaming platforms stepped in to fill gaps. As theatres reopened with safety measures in place, the industry began to adapt, but the sharp decline in box office receipts makes 2020 an exceptional outlier in recent British cinema history.