Worldwide box office share for UK indie films up in 2024, led by ‘Conclave’

UK independent films released in 2024 achieved a 1.7% share of the worldwide box office, an increase from 0.9% in 2023.

The total gross for the top 10 UK independent films was $329m – more than three times the $98m recorded by the top 10 in 2023.

Conclave was the best performing UK independent film released in 2024, grossing $75m across 11 territories. (This figure is now $110m as over March 2025). The UK producer was House Productions. 

Studiocanal and Universal’s Back To Black (produced by Monumental Films) was the second  highest-grossing UK independent film of 2024, with $49.1m from 18 territories, followed by One Life (See-Saw Picture) with $40.5m from 17 territories, released by a variety of distributors, including Bleecker Street in North America and Warner Bros in UK-Ireland. 

Source: Comscore, BFI. Box office figures run up to February 2 2025.

UK independent films took 1.3% of the North American box office for films released in 2024 (0.5% in 2023) and 4% across Europe (2% in 2023).

The Netherlands had the highest UK independent share of any territory (5.6%), excluding the UK and Ireland.

Australia and New Zealand continually have two of the strongest markets for UK independent films, with a 4.6% share of the New Zealand box office (5.4% in 2023) and 2.8% in Australia (3.3% in 2023).

The overall market share for UK indie films in the selected European territories (excluding the UK and Ireland) was 4%, an increase from 2% in 2023. In North Ameria.  market share of UK qualifying independent film was 1.3%, up from 0.5% in 2023.

Seven UK independent films grossed over $20m in 2024, (Conclave, Back To Black, One Life, The Zone Of Interest, We Live In Time, Wicked Little Letters and Lee), compared with one title in 2023, Guy Ritchie action comedy Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, which grossed around $49m worldwide, with Lionsgate releasing in the US. 

The BFI’s definition of a UK independent film was revised in 2023. “Where previously a film only needed to be UK qualifying and not directly made by a major US studio to be considered a UK independent, the BFI Research and Statistics Unit now also looks at where a film has been made with inward investment, whether it is either demonstrable or reasonable to assume that UK talent had substantial creative control or input (e.g., by having a UK director or writer),” outlined the BFI’s report.

“Note that there is no firm upper budget limit in the definition of UK qualifying independent film – although the higher the budget, the more a film will be scrutinised.”

Territory breakdown

None of the top UK-qualifying independent films were released in all territories in 2024. Back To Black and The Zone Of Interest were released in the highest number of territories, 18, whereas The Brutalist (UK-US-Canada-Hungary) was released only in North America (it went on wider release in 2025).

Eight different UK-qualifying independent films were the highest-grossing releases in the territories. We Live In Time was the most successful UK-qualifying independent film in seven territories – five from Latin America plus Portugal and Singapore.

Conclave was the highest in six territories (Hong Kong, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, North America) while The Zone Of Interest was top in three territories, Japan, Korea and the Netherlands (in addition to being top in North America in 2023, where it was released earlier). 

Wicked Little Letters  was top in Australia and New Zealand, while animated film 10 Lives  was top in Russia and Colombia.  No Way Up was the highest-grossing UK indie in Malaysia, One Life in France and Planet Earth: Hostile Paradise (a cinematic re-editing of the BBC television series Planet Earth III) in China.

UK-qualifying films released in 2024, not just UK-qualifying independent films, grossed $4.9bn and a 19.9% share of the worldwide box office – a 17% decrease from $6.1bn and 22.5% in 2023, and down 53% on the $8.5bn grossed in 2019. The highest-grossing UK-qualifying film released in 2024 was Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which grossed $1.1bn from the 24 territories covered by Comscore. Deadpool & Wolverine filmed in the UK. 

A UK-qualifying film is certified as such by the BFI’s cultural test; under one of the UK’s official co-production agreements or the European Convention on Cinematographic Coproduction; or a film which has not applied for certification but which is obviously British on the basis of its content, producers, finance and talent.

• The Daniels feature among record 51 projects selected for California tax credits