This list charts the most successful films at cinemas in the United Kingdom by box office sales, in pounds sterling and admissions. An overview of the top-earning films and record-holders is provided, as well as the highest-grossing British productions, the most successful non-English language films and the sound films that have generated the most admissions. A summary of the most popular films over the course of the last century is also included.
American productions dominate, with all films earning over £50 million at the box office either completely or partly produced by Hollywood studios. British film is well represented, with about half the films on the list qualifying as British productions; although due to the globalization of the film industry, most successful British productions since the start of the twenty-first century have been co-produced with other countries. There is no universally accepted definition of a film's nationality, so the criteria used by the sources supplying the data are applied where it is given.
Film series feature heavily, with eight James Bond films, eight Harry Potter instalments and four Tolkien adaptations included on the list. The 2012 James Bond film, Skyfall, is the top-earner and the only film to gross over £100 million. The effects of inflation are a significant contributing factor to recent films surpassing the box-office records of older films, so when considering the number of admissions Gone with the Wind (1940) is the most successful film, although this was achieved over several release cycles prior to the home video era.