UK films take lowest share of global box office since 2009

Posted on March 25, 2014

Despite high-profile productions such as Gravity, box office earnings of UK-based films more than $1bn down year-on-year.

This year’s Oscars may have been awash with British accents, thanks to the dominance of Gravity and 12 Years a Slave’s best picture win. But the UK’s share of the 2013 global box office actually fell to its lowest levels in four years, according to new figures released by the British Film Institute.

Films produced in (though not by) the UK accounted for 11.4% of the global box office last year, the lowest since 2009. The BFI calculates that the £2.5bn ($4.1bn) combined take is over a billion dollars down on the 2012 figure of £3.2bn ($5.3bn) which represented a 15.3% share.

As the controversy over the Gravity’s win of the best British film Bafta over Slave (which wasn’t eligible) demonstrated, the British credentials of films can be confusing. The vast majority of what the BFI class as UK films are either wholly or partly US backed, but showcase UK settings, cast and crew. Such films accounted for 9.8% of the global box office this year, compared to just 1.6% for independent British films.

Top three films produced in the UK
1) Fast and Furious 6 –£478m ($789m)
2) Gravity –£428m ($708m)
3) Thor: The Dark World –£388m ($641m)

Top three films produced by the UK
1) Red 2 –£90m ($148m)
2) Rush –£55m ($90m)
3) Philomena –£54m ($89m)