January box office up 18% as four films exceed £10m
January box office in the UK and Ireland totalled £111.5m, an 18% year-on-year increase from the same month last year and a 30% jump compared to January 2024, according to the latest figures from Comscore.
The top film of the month was Lionsgate’s thriller The Housemaid, which grossed £20.5m in January after its £8.6m December take.
It is the highest-grossing film in the UK and Irish market for director Paul Feig, surpassing Bridesmaids (£23m). The Housemaid has also moved ahead of similar titles in its genre like David Fincher’s Gone Girl (£22.6m) and 2016’s The Girl on the Train (£24m).
“The Housemaid, it’s fair to say, is something of a sensation”, commented Digital Cinema Media’s (DCM) content business director Tom Linay.
Three other films grossed over £10m in January: Hamnet (£15.7m), Avatar: Fire and Ash (£14.2m; £41.5m lifetime), and Marty Supreme (£11.8m).
Other top performers included 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (£7.2m) and Zootropolis 2 (£7.2m; £32.3m lifetime).
Female audiences and a pre-awards corridor bump
Linay candidly admitted January’s strong overperformance took him by surprise, but when considering the film slate in more detail, there were strong reasons for better-than-expected box office and attendance.
He chalked up the bumper month to the number of quality titles aimed at “underserved” female audiences. BookTok, which has attracted a large number of female readers, had previously promoted the original material for two major adaptations: The Housemaid and Hamnet.
“It’s a ready-made audience,” Linay explained.
The good news for cinemas is 2026 is full of quality films targeted at women audiences. Apart from The Handmaid and Hamnet, next month’s Wuthering Heights, this summer’s The Devil Wears Prada 2, and this autumn’s Verity (another BookTok staple) are all expected to perform well at the box office.
Additionally, the January success of Marty Supreme can’t be overlooked. Globally, the title is set to become A24’s highest-grossing film.
“Pre-Covid, during this pre-awards corridor, you’d get at least one film with £20m. Post-Covid, that hasn’t happened,” remarked Linay. But that appears set to change this year with Marty Supreme and Hamnet. “Good films doing good numbers,” he added with a smile.
Marty Supreme has benefitted from an exceptional promotional campaign from its star, Timothée Chalamet, who has emerged as a savvy marketer in his own right. To promote the film, Chalamet and A24 released a viral satirical Zoom marketing meeting video. He also appeared in a music video by EsDeeKid after rumours swirled online that the British rapper’s real identity was actually Chalamet.
The star actor previously pulled similar stunts in promoting A Complete Unknown, including spending “six figures out of pocket” for his performance in character as Bob Dylan on Saturday Night Live.
Melania receives crickets
Amidst the success of artful films like Marty Supreme and Hamnet, the film that has received the bulk of headlines the past week has been the release of Melania, a documentary film about US first lady Melania Trump.
The film, widely decried as propaganda, was directed by Brett Ratner, who had not directed a title since he was accused of sexual assault by several women in 2017. More recently, a photo from the Epstein files shows Ratner pictured cuddling a woman in a photo with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Melania was financed by Amazon MGM Studios, which paid $40m to license the film (the highest price ever paid for a documentary) and an additional $35m for marketing, in what has widely been considered a bribe to US president Donald Trump.
The film has been panned by critics. Mark Kermode said of the film: “It’s horrible. It is the most depressing experience I have ever had in the cinema. I mean, I’ve seen A Serbian Film, I’ve seen Cannibal Holocaust, I, I have never felt this depressed in my life in the cinema. I thought it was absolutely repugnant. […] “It’s like somebody making a documentary in which Eva Braun feels sad about war whilst Hitler invades Poland.”
The film grossed $7m in its opening weekend in the US, though some have suggested foul play. As Puck‘s Matthew Belloni reported, critics have speculated patrons of the film “cooked the box office books” through bulk buying.
Regardless, Melania’s box office take was considerably more muted in the UK and Ireland. In its first full week, the film tallied just £57,608 in those markets. The Media Leader understands cinemas will dramatically reduce the number of showings available for the title in subsequent weeks.
“It’s not going to get to £100k,” Linay said.
February preview: Taking things to new heights?
The title to watch in February is Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, which has been well-timed on 13 February to align with Galentine’s Day.
Other films releasing in February include horror flicks The Strangers – Chapter 3 (5 February), Whistle (13 February) and Scream 7 (20 February).
Charli XCX mockumentary The Moment debuts on 20 February, and music lovers can also see EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert on the 27th.
However, Linay warns that he expects monthly box office and revenue to be down year-on-year next month due to the challenging comparable from the year prior. Last February saw the release of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy and Captain America: Brave New World.
While Linay is hopeful he’ll be surprised again, it’s unlikely Wuthering Heights will be able to cover for both those films.
What other films should brands have an eye on this year? The Media Leader, in partnership with DCM, spoke to DCM’s Michael Bensley and Mail Metro Media’s Tracy Middleton last month to unpack the indispensible moments that will matter to audiences throughout 2026.