TOP FILMS OF ALL TIME AT THE UK BOX OFFICE

TOP FILMS OF ALL TIME AT THE

UK BOX OFFICE

BFI RESEARCH AND STATISTICS PUBLISHED JUNE 2017

Star Wars: The Force Awakens remains the top earning film of all time at the UK box office, while more than half of the top 20 highest grossing titles are based on UK characters and stories.

FACTS IN FOCUS

The 2015 release, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is the highest grossing film of all time in the UK with box office earnings of ?123 million.

Two films released in 2016, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (?66 million) and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (?55 million), entered the all-time top 20 chart.

Sequels and franchise films make up 17 of the all-time top 20 chart, while 11 are UK/USA collaborations.

One 2016 release, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, appears in the chart of all-time top UK independent films, with box office earnings of ?16 million.

TOP FILMS OF ALL TIME AT THE

UK BOX OFFICE

Image: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ?2016 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

BFI STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 2017

TOP 20 FILMS AT THE UK BOX OFFICE, 1989-2016

Table 1 shows the top 20 highest earning films of all time at the UK box office. Star Wars: The Force Awakens retains its position at the top of the chart, while the latest instalment in the series, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, entered the list in tenth place. The Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the only other new entry to the chart, appearing in 19th place.

The list is dominated by franchise movies, including three James Bond titles, three Harry Potter films and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Only three of the top 20 films are neither sequels nor franchise films, namely Avatar (although filming for the first follow-up is to begin in the summer of 2017 and further sequels are in development), Mamma Mia! and Titanic. Eleven of the top 20 films are UK/USA collaborations and the same number are based on stories and characters created by UK writers such as Ian Fleming, JK Rowling and JRR Tolkien, and the playwright Catherine Johnson, which shows the sustained appetite for home-grown material amongst British audiences.

RANKING ALL-TIME TOP FILMS

In the absence of admissions data on individual films, top films can only be measured in terms of earnings at the box office. Inflation is a key factor affecting earnings and this needs to be borne in mind against some of the figures quoted in this chapter (however, some figures are adjusted for inflation). Most of this chapter relates to actual box office receipts from 1989 onwards (although coverage of box office figures for some high grossing films goes back to 1975), so can be categorised as all-time top films since it is unlikely that anything produced before 1989 will have earned more in nominal terms.

TOP FILMS OF ALL TIME AT THE UK BOX OFFICE

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BFI STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 2017

Table 1 Top 20 films at the UK box office, 1989-2016

Title

Country of origin

UK box office total

(? million)

Distributor

Year of release

1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2 Skyfall 3 SPECTRE 4 Avatar 5 Titanic# 6 Toy Story 3 7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 8 Mamma Mia! 9 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 10 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story* 11 Jurassic World 12 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 13 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 14 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 15 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace# 16 The Dark Knight Rises 17 Casino Royale 18 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 19 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them* 20 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

UK/USA UK/USA UK/USA

USA USA USA UK/USA UK/USA UK/USA UK/USA USA NZ/USA NZ/USA NZ/USA USA UK/USA UK/USA/Cze UK/USA UK/USA USA

123.2 103.2

95.2 94.0 80.3 74.0 73.1 68.6 66.1 65.9 64.5 63.0 61.1 57.6 56.4 56.3 55.6 54.8 54.6 52.5

Walt Disney

2015

Sony Pictures

2012

Sony Pictures

2015

20th Century Fox

2009

20th Century Fox 1998/2012

Walt Disney

2010

Warner Bros

2011

Universal

2008

Warner Bros

2001

Walt Disney

2016

Universal

2015

Entertainment

2001

Entertainment

2003

Entertainment

2002

20th Century Fox 1999/2012

Warner Bros

2012

Sony Pictures

2006

Warner Bros

2002

Warner Bros

2016

Walt Disney

2006

Source: comScore, BFI RSU analysis Notes: Figures have not been inflation adjusted. Box office gross = cumulative total up to 19 February 2017. * Film still on release on 19 February 2017. # The box office grosses for Titanic and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace include the grosses from their original releases plus the grosses from their 3D re-releases in 2012.

INFLATION-ADJUSTED TOP 20 FILMS AT THE UK BOX OFFICE, 1975-2016

Table 2 shows an inflation-adjusted box office chart based on the top 20 highest grossing films released in the UK since 1975 (when coverage of leading titles begins).

The 2015 release Star Wars: The Force Awakens tops the table, with an inflation-adjusted box office gross of ?125 million. The first instalment of both the original and prequel trilogies are also top 20 titles with 1999's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (?78 million) and 1977's now re-titled Star Wars: A New Hope (?74 million) in 12th and 16th place respectively. While none of the subsequent instalments in the already completed trilogies make the inflationadjusted top 40, the latest outing from the franchise, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story entered the rankings in 21st place.

Skyfall, which was in third place in the previous inflation-adjusted chart, has overtaken Titanic to take second place,

TOP FILMS OF ALL TIME AT THE UK BOX OFFICE

4

BFI STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 2017

with an inflation-adjusted gross of ?109 million. Another two of the Daniel Craig era Bond films also appear in the chart ? SPECTRE (?97 million) is in fifth place and Casino Royale (?66 million) is at number 20. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the highest placed of the three Harry Potter films in the list at number six, with inflation-adjusted earnings of ?89 million. All three Lord of the Rings films make the chart with the top placed, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, seventh, with earnings of ?85 million.

Table 2 Top 20 highest grossing films at the UK box office, 1975-2016 (inflation adjusted1)

Title

Country of origin

UK box office total

(2016 ? million)

Distributor

Year of release

1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2 Skyfall 3 Titanic#

UK/USA UK/USA

USA

125.4 109.4 108.9

Walt Disney

2015

Sony Pictures

2012

20th Century Fox 1998/2012

4 Avatar

USA

104.8

20th Century Fox

2009

5 SPECTRE

UK/USA

96.9

Sony Pictures

2015

6 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

UK/USA

89.3

Warner Bros

2001

7 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

USA/NZ

85.2

Entertainment

2001

8 Toy Story 3

USA

81.2

Walt Disney

2010

9 Jaws

USA

80.6

UIP

1975

10 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

USA/NZ

78.9

Entertainment

2003

11 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 12 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace#

UK/USA USA

78.6

Warner Bros

2011

78.2

20th Century Fox 1999/2012

13 Mamma Mia!

UK/USA

77.6

Universal

2008

14 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 15 Jurassic Park#

USA/NZ

76.2

USA

76.2

Entertainment

2002

UIP/Universal 1993/2013

16 Star Wars: A New Hope

USA

74.5

20th Century Fox

1977

17 The Full Monty

UK/USA

74.2

20th Century Fox

1997

18 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

UK/USA

72.5

Warner Bros

2002

19 Grease

USA

68.1

UIP

1978

20 Casino Royale

UK/USA/Cze

66.3

Sony Pictures

2006

Source: comScore, BFI RSU analysis Notes: 1 The 2016 ? is calculated using the HMT UK GDP deflator which can be found at . Box office gross = cumulative total up to 19 February 2017. # The box office grosses for Titanic, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Jurassic Park include the grosses from their original releases plus the grosses from their 3D re-releases in 2012 or 2013.

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