July box office climbs 35% as The Odyssey becomes biggest film of the year
UK and Ireland box office revenue totalled £178.2m in July, 35% higher than the equivalent five-week total recorded in July 2025, according to the latest figures from Comscore.
Following the big month — the highest grossing of the year thus far — year-to-date box office has surpassed £783m, running 18% ahead of 2025 and 34% ahead of 2024 in what is shaping up to be by far the biggest year for cinema since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Box office revenue has increased in six of the first seven months of the year, with all but one such month (April) up by double-digits.
According to Tom Linay, head of film at cinema ad sales house Digital Cinema Media (DCM), July admissions also rose 9% year-on-year to 14.1m, with the discrepancy in box office growth relative to admissions growth primarily explained by the popularity of IMAX attendance for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
The epic was the top-grossing film of the month earning £56.2m in its first three weeks of release to become the highest-grossing film of the year so far.
Earlier this week, The Odyssey became Nolan’s biggest film globally, surpassing $1.1bn at the worldwide box office. It is also surpassed Avatar to become the highest-grossing IMAX film of all time, generating more than a quarter ($289m) of its ticket sales from the high-res format.
In the UK, The Odyssey is on pace to finish “comfortably” over £70m, according to Linay, who added: “People trust Nolan to deliver an incredible cinema experience.”
In second-place for July was Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which grossed £53m in its first week. Spider-Man‘s opening weekend of £36.4m is the third-highest of all time in the UK, behind only Spectre (£41.2m) and Avengers: Endgame (£43.4m).
“It’s well on its way to becoming one of the biggest films of all-time in the UK & Ireland,” said Linay, who noted it was an exceptional month for actors Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jon Bernthal, all of whom star in both The Odyssey and Spider-Man.
The rest of July’s top five was comprised of family films Toy Story 5 (£20.8m; 53.2m cumulative), Minions & Monsters (£15.5m) and Disney’s live-action remake of Moana (£11.3m).
Other notables included A24 comedy The Invite (£3.6m) and horror flick Obsession, which earned an additional £2.4m in July to become the third-highest-grossing horror film of all-time in the UK & Ireland and the highest-grossing since 2017 (£19.5m cumulative).
August preview: Web slinging, erotic comedy and a Bourdain biopic
After a blockbuster-filled July, August is expected to be relatively quiet with a mix of new and returning IP.
The top film of the month is expected to be Spider-Man: Brand New Day, as the majority of the superhero title’s theatre run is set to take place in August, adding to its hot start.
It is followed by Disney comedy Super Troopers 3 and the family-friendly Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie, both of which opened last weekend.
This week sees the debut of Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway adventure comedy The End of Oak Street.
Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony opens on the 14th while new Insidious title Insidious: Out of the Further is slated for release on the 21st.
At the end of the month, Ridley Scott’s latest directorial offering, an adaptation of the post-apocalyptic novel The Dog Stars, debuts on the 28th, as does Gregg Araki’s erotic comedy I Want Your Sex.
The backend of the month is further rounded out by a number of re-releases, including The Fast and the Furious, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and La La Land, all of which open on the 28th.
