Full Cast and Crew Contribute to This Page The UK’s 2014 box office results are in, and The LEGO Movie is the unexpected winner, with the animated comedy grossing a whopping £34.3m to take the top spot. It’s overall gross will soon be dwarfed by number two film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which sits at £33.5m and is still on general release. But according to figures released by Rentrak today, in terms of the 2014 calendar year, LEGO rules the roost. The biggest British film of the year is The Inbetweeners 2, and while the comedy’s £33.3m tally is some way off its predecessor’s £45m gross, that’s still a huge total for a film which cost relatively little to make. The other British triumph of 2014 is family film Paddington, which at £27.9m and counting should soon smash through the £30m mark. Expect sequels to follow, while it will be interesting to see if this very British tale can replicate that success across the pond when it hits US screens next week.
As Guardians of the Galaxy illustrates, Transatlantic tastes don’t always match, with the Marvel movie the biggest hit of the year Stateside but only charting at number six in the UK. And the most successful film of the year globally – Transformers Age of Extinction – doesn’t even make the Top 10, suggesting that UK audiences might have tired of the robots in disguise. Overall the UK and Ireland box office total was £1.1 billion – down 2.9% on 2014 – but with SPECTRE, Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens all hitting screens this year, expect 2015’s tally to be absolutely colossal. UK & Ireland Box Office Results 2014* 1. The LEGO Movie: £34.3m 2. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies: £33.5m 3. The Inbetweeners 2: £33.3m 4. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes: £32.7m 5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1: £30.1m 6. Guardians Of The Galaxy: £28.5m 8. X-Men: Days Of Future Past: £27.1m 9. How To Train Your Dragon 2: £25.0m 10.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2: £24.0m *Numbers courtesy of Rentrak, and it should be noted that The Hobbit, The Hunger Games and Paddington are still in cinemas. Chris Tilly is the Entertainment Editor for IGN in the UK and is chuffed to see the lovely Paddington doing so well. He can be found talking nonsense on both Twitter and MyIGN.British cinemas have suffered the largest drop in box office takings since records began, as experts claim a lack of blockbusters left the industry suffering. Cinemas in the UK and Ireland saw box office drop 2.9 per cent, or around £34million, from 2013; the most significant change since 1991. Experts believe the fall is due in part to a lack of major blockbusters which would have proved sure-fire hits with audiences, as well as the increasing cost of cinema tickets and a trend for people to download films or watch box sets in the home. The Lego Movie because the highest grossing film of 2014 in the UK and Ireland, taking £34.3million, with more than half of the top ten movies being sequels.
It was followed by The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies which took £33m in 2014 and is still on release, and The Inbetweeners 2 at £33.3m. Despite the drop in takings after a successful 2013, 2014 did mark the fifth consecutive year that the industry exceeded the £1.1 billion mark. Analysis by Rentrak, a research company focusing on entertainment, showed total takings across UK and Ireland cinemas was £1,133,975,157, down from £1,167,909,853 in 2013. This represents a year-on-year fall on 2.9 per cent, which they claim is “the most significant reduction in box-office since tracking began in 1991”. There was good news, though, for the adult market, with 18-rated films reaching a new high. The Wolf Of Wall Street took £22.7m, the UK’s highest ever gross for an 18 certificate, overturning Hannibal’s 13-year record. The most significant drops were seen in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, which both saw a seven per cent reduction in takings. Rentrak has already pointed to a lack of “reliable blockbusters” such as those from the Bond, Harry Potter or Toy Story franchise to boost takings in 2015, as they predict things will pick up rapidly in the year to come.
Lucy Jones, UK Executive Director at Rentrak, said: “When considering the causes of the drop in box-office, we could point to widening home entertainment options, with online services enabling easy downloading of films and TV box-sets for binge-viewing, or the increasing cost of cinema tickets. “However our view remains that it’s a product-driven market. The audience will turn out for the films that grab their attention, but they need a compelling reason to go – whether that’s a must-see sequel, big-budget effects or 5-star reviews. “It’s a crowded marketplace, with over 830 releases last year including live events. To get over the £50m level, you have to motivate irregular cinema-goers to book that ticket, and 2014 was a ‘year off’ for many of the major franchises like Bond and Avengers.” Top 10 films in UK & Ireland in 2014: 1. The Lego Movie (Warner Bros): £34.3m 2. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (Warner Bros): £33.5m (still on release) 3. The Inbetweeners 2 (Entertainment Film Distributors): £33.3m 4.
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (20th Century Fox): £32.7m 5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (Lionsgate): £30.1m (still on release) 6. Guardians Of The Galaxy (Walt Disney): £28.5m 7. Paddington (StudioCanal): £27.9m (still on release) 8. X-Men: Days Of Future Past (20th Century Fox): £27.1m 9. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (20th Century Fox): £25.0m 10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Sony Pictures): £24.0m Top 10 British Films in UK & Ireland in 2014: 1. The Inbetweeners 2 (Entertainment Film Distributors): £33.3m 2. Paddington (StudioCanal): £27.9m (still on release) 3. Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie (Universal Pictures): £14.7m 4. The Imitation Game (StudioCanal): £14.1m (still on release) 5. Non-Stop (StudioCanal): £9.4m 6. Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey? (eOne Films): £7.4m 7. Mr. Turner (eOne Films): £6.4m 8. The Railway Man (Lionsgate): £5.3m 9. Gravity (Warner Bros): £5.2m (released in 2013; lifetime £32.7m) 10. Exodus: Gods And Kings (20th Century Fox): £4.7m (still on release)