Blockbuster Summer Pushed UK Cinema Admissions To Pre-Pandemic High In August

Cinema admissions across the UK in August surpassed 17 million, a 56 per cent increase on the same month in 2025, according to new figures collected by the UK Cinema Association. The official figures for August were 17,000,838. That makes August 2026 the second-biggest month since the pandemic and the biggest August since 2018. The largest post-pandemic month is still July 2023, thanks to the Barbenheimer craze. The bulk of these admissions can be attributed to the summer’s two massive box office hits, Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey, which has hit £89m in the UK, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which has a £77m cume in the UK. The UK figures are in line with bumper numbers across Europe. Earlier this week, Gower Street and the International Union of Cinemas reported that box office stats across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) increased 88% year-on-year as the global box office passed $4 billion. Watch on Deadline In August, France recorded 19.9 million admissions, the best figure recorded in the country during August since monthly records began in 1980 and twice the level of the same month in 2025. In Italy, cinemas enjoyed their best-ever June-August period, with 20.8 million admissions and €162.3 million in box office receipts. That is the strongest August ever recorded in the country. Gower Street also reported significant year-on-year increases across markets, including Spain (+71%) and the Netherlands (+77%). UNIC’s report similarly credited international blockbusters such as Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey for the big summer figures, alongside successful local productions, including the French two-part drama De Gaulle, the German comedy Steckerlsfischfiasko, and the Spanish family franchise Tadeo Jones 4.