Bridget Jones leads 20% growth in February box office
February box office jumped 20% year on year to £100.7m, according to the latest Comscore figures, driven by record-breaking figures from Bridget Jones sequel Mad About the Boy, which earned £38.3m during the month.
Currently, total box office is tracking 15% ahead of this time last year and 21% ahead of 2023.
Tom Linay, content business director at cinema sales house Digital Cinema Media (DCM), estimated that admissions — the currency by which cinema ads are traded — were also up 11% year on year in February. Official admissions figures will be released later this month.
Mad About the Boy‘s £12.2m opening made it the highest-grossing romantic comedy (non-adjusted) in UK cinema history, breaking the record held by the second Bridget Jones film, The Edge of Reason, in 2004.
Notably, Mad About the Boy‘s cinematic success was not repeated in the US, where the film was released directly to streaming platform Peacock despite its robust performance in the UK and other markets such as Australia.
Linay called Bridget Jones “the most popular series of its kind” and noted its debut week, alongside Captain America: Brave New World (14-21 February), was the busiest week for admissions since July 2023, when Barbenheimer filled seats in cinemas.
Total admissions during the week reached 4.8m — something that Linay attributed to anticipation for Mad About the Boy and Captain America but also the timeliness of their releases during Valentine’s Day (and Galentine’s Day on 13 February — when Mad About the Boy debuted) and half term.
“February half term is always a good week,” he said. “The schools are off, you generally don’t get good weather, so cinema becomes a good option.”
Captain America was the second-highest grossing film during February, earning £16.1m despite lukewarm reception from critics.
Coming in third, DreamWorks Animation’s Dog Man also surpassed £10m (£12.1m) during the month.
The positive start to the year has caught the attention of brands, according to DCM head of client Michael Bensley.
Bensley told The Media Leader that cinema ad revenue in Q1 has so far surged by 38%, thanks to interest from brand categories including automotive, entertainment and leisure, and even the government.
For Bridget Jones in particular, advertiser demand was “immediate”, he said.
“Advertisers are increasingly treating cinema’s biggest releases like TV launch moments, using the big screen to drive mass awareness and cultural relevance,” added Bensley.
Joon-ho, Soderbergh, Disney and a Chinese hit to watch
While box office and attendance figures have got off to a hot start in 2025, Linay warned that March is likely to fall behind 2024 levels given Dune: Part Two‘s £35.6m haul offers a challenging comparable.
Major releases to watch during the month include Bong Joon-ho’s first feature since Parasite (2019), sci-fi comedy Mickey 17, which releases today (7 March).
Steven Soderbergh spy thriller Black Bag debuts next weekend, while Disney’s anticipated live-action remake of Snow White is out on 21 March and is well-positioned to pick up family audiences during the Easter holiday in April.
A less obvious one to keep an eye on is Chinese animation Ne Zha 2, which Linay indicated will also release in the UK this month. The film, which debuted in China in late January, has proven wildly popular. Its domestic gross sits at nearly $2bn, driven by 15m Imax admissions in its home market alone.
Back in the UK, Linay told The Media Leader that DCM had already sold all three premium slots for Snow White as well as Mickey 17.
“Everything’s going well at the moment,” he reflected. “Films are doing well, lots of premium slots are going.”
Looking further ahead, Bensley added that all premium slots are also already sold for May’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and June’s F1.