Daniel Craig in Spectre.
'Spectre,' Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures2015 was the biggest year of all time at the U.K. box office.
According to Rentrak, British and Irish box-office revenue for the year reached $1.91 billion (£1.31 billion), up 15 percent from 2014’s $1.65 billion. The figure also beat the previous annual record of $1.72 billion, set in 2012.
Underlining the year’s success, five titles topped the $60.2 million mark hit by 2014’s top film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. And while Star Wars: The Force Awakens has since become the biggest film to be released in 2015 and is soon likely to top Skyfall as the most successful film of all time in the U.K., the cumulative results up to Dec. 31 saw the 24th 007, Spectre, come out on top, with 2015 revenue of $137 million.
As of Tuesday, Star Wars: The Force Awakens stood at $148.7 million.
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In the Hollywood studio space, Universal’s stellar 2015 gave it a 21 percent share of the overall U.K. market and saw it smash records with a gross of $497.9 million for the year. Four Universal films — Jurassic World, Minions, Fast & Furious 7 and Fifty Shades of Grey — made it into the top 10. Disney came in second with $381.3 million and three films in the U.K. top 10 for the year.
However, Rentrak warned that the upward trajectory might not continue in 2016, suggesting that the year might “struggle” to maintain the growth and blaming “fewer sure-fire hits of the size of Spectre or The Force Awakens.“
Here are the top 10 films of 2015, through Dec. 31, in the U.K. and Ireland:
1. Spectre $137.1 million (still in theaters)
2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens $127 million (still in theaters)
3. Jurassic World $94.1 million
4. The Avengers: Age Of Ultron $70.5 million
5. Minions $69.7 million
6. Inside Out $57.2 million
7. Fast & Furious 7 $56.3 million
8. Fifty Shades of Grey $51.2 million
9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 $41 million
10. Home $37.1 million
