"Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" were the top two films in the Ireland and UK territory for 2023, according to stats from Comscore.

The two films, which debuted on the same day in July giving way to the 'Barbenheimer' phenomenon, helped propel total box office revenue across Ireland and the UK to £1,062,047,498 in 2023, an increase of 8% from 2022’s total of £980,516,136.

2023 was the first post-pandemic year for box offices in the Ireland and UK territory to achieve over £1 billion, which Comscore says is "a significant milestone on the journey to full recovery."

Prior to the pandemic, annual box office in the Ireland and UK territory had exceeded £1.3 billion in each of the five years up to 2019.

Comscore noted that the Republic of Ireland had the strongest year-on-year growth of the five nations making up the UK and Ireland territory, with its box office 13% higher than 2022.

The final 2023 admission figure is not yet available, Comscore said, but is likely to exceed 130 million, slightly up from 2022’s 127 million.

The top 10 films in UK & Ireland in 2023, according to Comscore:

(Data from January 6, 2023 to January 4, 2024)

  1. "Barbie" (Warner Bros): £95.5m
  2. "Oppenheimer" (Universal): £58.7m
  3. "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" (Universal): £54.8m
  4. "Wonka" (Warner Bros): £49.2m – still on release
  5. "Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3" (Disney): £36.7m
  6. "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse" (Sony): £30.7m
  7. "The Little Mermaid" (Disney): £27.4m
  8. "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" (Paramount): £26.6m
  9. "Puss In Boots: The Last Wish" (Universal): £26.0m
  10. "Avatar: The Way Of Water" (Disney): £25.5m in 2023 (£77.3m lifetime)

Noting the "strong" summer period of 2023 for Ireland and the UK's box offices, Comscore said: "When 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' raced to over £50m in April, there seemed few titles on the slate to challenge it.

"This all changed in July with 'Barbie' passing £50m in just 11 days and 'Oppenheimer' joining it after a month on release.

"Film students will no doubt be analyzing summer 2023 in years to come, with the counter-programming releases of 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' offering the perfect case study in audience segmentation and viral marketing."

Meanwhile, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" have also proven to be award favorites this season.

On January 7, "Oppenheimer" won five Golden Globe awards, including Cork native Cillian Murphy winning Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama. "Barbie," which had nine Golden Globe nominations, ultimately only won the new Golden Globe Award for Cinematic and Box Achievement.

Murphy has been drawing considerable Oscar buzz since "Oppenheimer" dropped over the summer. Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23.

Related: Movies