'1917' tops UK box office for 2020

Sir Sam Mendes’ WW1 thriller 1917 topped the UK’s 2020 box office in a pandemic-stricken year.

The award-winning homegrown hit, released in UK cinemas on 10 January, was a runaway smash taking £44m at the UK box office, on the way to a global gross of £284m.

The data, from the annual report by box office analyst Comscore, shows the devastating effect the coronavirus pandemic has had on the UK box office though, with nine out of the year’s top ten films being released before March.

Despite a strong start to the year, the nationwide cinema shutdowns that began in March, resulted in a 76% drop in takings compared to 2019.

Read more: The best movies of 2020

UK cinemas earned £322.2m in 2020, compared with £1.3bn in 2019. The sole post-pandemic release to hit the top ten was Christopher Nolan’s Tenet which was released in August after cinemas began to reopen.

Top 10 films at the UK box office in 2020

1: 1917 – £44m

2: Sonic the Hedgehog – £19.3m

3: Tenet – £17.4m

4: Bad Boys for Life – £16.2m

5: Dolittle – £15.9m

6: Little Women – £15.3m (released 2019, £22.1m total)

7: The Gentlemen – £12.2m

8: Parasite – £12.1m

9: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – £11.3m (released 2019, £58.2m total)

10; Jumanji: The Next Level – £11m (released 2019, £36.8m total)

The Comscore report revealed that the pandemic had a more adverse affect on the revenues of multiplex cinemas than independent cinemas, with single-screen venues recording revenue drops of 68% year on year, compared to six-or-more screen sites which suffered 77% drops.

1917 is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Watch the 1917 crew reveal the secrets of the audacious film