Independent British films have had their highest market share at the local box office for five years, according to official BFI statistics for 2019 which were released today.
Movies including Downton Abbey, The favourite and Yesterday helped boost the market share of independent British films to 13% in 2019, from 11.7% the previous year.
Downton Abbey, the big-screen adaptation of the period TV drama, topped the charts after grossing £28.2million following its release by Universal in September. It was produced by Carnival Films with Focus Features and released by Universal.
The favourite, which won seven Baftas and an Oscar for lead actress Olivia Colman, came in second with £17million after being released by Fox Searchlight Pictures in January. It was produced by Element Pictures and Scarlet Films.
The total box office of the top 20 independent British films accounted for 87% of the box office gross of all independent British films released in 2019.
When studio-backed films that were made in the UK are included, such as Avengers: Endgame and The Lion Kingthis figure rises to 46% – the highest since records began.
As previously reported, 2019 proved to be a strong year at the UK box office, with the BFI confirming cinema admissions of 176 million, valued at £1.25 billion. However, this is a slight drop from the 177 million recorded in 2018, which was the highest level of admissions since 1970.
The highest-grossing films were Avengers: Endgame (£88.7 million), The Lion King (£76m) and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (£54.9 million) in the UK in 2019.
The BFI definition of an independent film includes titles “made with independent US (non-studio) support or with the independent arm of a US studio”.
Top 20 independent British films released in 2019
| Movie | Gross box office | Distributer |
| Downton Abbey | £28.2 million | Universal |
| The favourite | £17.0 million | Fox |
| Yesterday | £13.8m | Universal |
| Stan and Ollie | £10.6 million | eOne Movies |
| Mary, Queen of Scots | £9.2m | Universal |
| Judy | £8.1 million | Fox |
| The angel has fallen | £7.5m | Lions Gate |
| Fisherman’s Friends | £7.4m | Entertainment film distributors |
| Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon | £7.0 million | Studiocanal |
| fight with my family | £5.9 million | Lions Gate |
| blue story | £4.5m | Primordial |
| The child who wanted to be king | £3.7m | Fox |
| Blinded by the light | £3.2 million | eOne Movies |
| wild rose | £2.9m | eOne Movies |
| Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans | £2.9 million | Distribution of altitude films |
| Peppa Pig: Festival of Fun | £2.8 million | eOne Movies |
| Jane red | £2.8 million | Lions Gate |
| Colette | £2.5 million | Lions Gate |
| Official Secrets | £2.4 million | eOne Movies |
| The following | £2.0 million | Fox |