U.K. Box Office: 2017 Was Highest Year on Record

Last year broke the record set in 2016, with 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' the highest earner and a couple of major local productions helping out as well.

The U.K. box office in 2017 broke the record set in 2016 to become the highest-grossing year on record.

The year's total cume reached $1.87 billion, according to a new report by comScore, up 3.6 percent from $1.8 billion in 2016, which itself had beaten the record set in 2015 (there was a small drop of 2.7 percent in 2014).

Leading the charge in the U.K. was Star Wars: The Last Jedi, currently sitting on $99 million but still on wide release, with Beauty and the Beast not far behind, having earned $98 million. Further down, Dunkirk — the highest grossing British co-production — took $77 million, followed by Despicable Me 3 with $65 million and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with $56 million.

Paddington 2, the second highest-grossing British film, has earned $53 million since it was launched in November and currently sits in the 6th spot.

Overall, 874 films and events were released into cinemas during 2017, a slight reduction from 2016’s 900 releases.

In terms of studios, Disney took the crown for the second successive year, taking $359 million (19.2 percent of the total market) from just six films. Warner Bros claimed second with $303 million (16.2 percent), followed by Universal with $291 million (15.6 percent).