Box office grosses for the UK and Ireland in April this year amounted to 96.9 million pounds ($119.2 million), according to figures for the month released by Comscore.
At this time in 2021, closed cinemas remain closed due to the second nationwide lockdown, with the exception of Guernsey and the Isle of Man, which reopened on May 17 in England and Scotland. Compared to the first four months of 2019 before the pandemic, 2022 is 27% behind.
“Sonic The Hedgehog 2” is April’s No. 1 film, grossing £22.8m, the fourth highest-grossing film of the year so far. The animated series is 18% ahead of the original film at £19.3m, and is the second best-performing film based on a video game, 5% behind Uncharted (£24.2m). Second in April was “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets” with £19.1 million, the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2022.
“The Bad Guys” came in third place, with revenue of £10.7m, and is the third biggest animated film of the year, after “Sing 2” and “Sonic The Hedgehog 2”. The Lost City was fourth with £8.1m, and its £2.7m opening was the biggest for an original film released this year. It’s also Paramount’s second in the top five, helping make it the top-performing distributor for April.
Distributor performance for the year to date, with a 26% market share, goes to Universal, whose “Sing 2” is currently number two on the annual list with £32.7 million and “Minions: The Rise Of Gru” will premiere in July.
Morbius rounded out the top five for April with £6.3m.
Downton Abbey: A New Era was sixth with £6.1m a week after its release, the best British film of the month. The sequel opened in 744 locations, making it the biggest UK opening ever for April. Currently the best British film of the year at £15.5m, Belfast is the widest UK release with 758 locations.
In seventh place, “Operation Mincemeat” with 4.3 million pounds and in eighth place, “The Batman”, the only amount remaining in March, added 4 million pounds in April and added 40.7 million pounds. “The Northman” was in ninth place with 3.8 million pounds.
The “Unbearable Weight of Huge Talent” was ranked 10th with £1.2m. Nicolas Cage’s films have grossed over £200m in the territory since his debut as Peggy Sue Got Married (1987).
The Worst Person in the World was the highest-grossing foreign film for the month of April, grossing £629,000 and £974,000 since its release in late March. It is the third highest-grossing foreign film of the year after ‘Parallel Mothers’ (£1.3m) and ‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’ (£1.4m). The film is the second biggest to come out of Norway in the territory, after “Headhunters” (£1.4m).
The big May releases are “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness,” available now, “Firestarter” on Friday the 13th, and “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Bob’s Burgers” on May 25 and 27, respectively.