The BFI’s Research and Statistics Unit have published their latest official figures which show significant growth for UK film and high-end TV (HETV) production with record high levels of spending which contributes to the Uk economy and the recovery of the industry post-covid. The combined spend by film and HETV during 2022 reached £6.27 billion, making it the biggest spend year ever reported and £1.83 billion higher than for the pre-pandemic year 2019.
Of the total £4.29 billion HETV production spend:
- Inward investment shows contributed £3.62 billion (84% of total HETV spend and a 3% decrease on 2021)
- Domestic UK shows accounted for £632.7 million (15% of total HETV spend and a 4% decrease on 2021)
- Co-production spend was £36.5 million (less than 1% of total spend but a threefold increase on 2021).
and of the total £1.97 billion spend on film production:
- Inward investment films contributed £1.74 billion (88% of total film spend and a 31% increase on 2021)
- Domestic UK films accounted for £173.6 million (8% of total film spend and a 31% decrease on 2021)
- Co-productions accounted for £59.1 million (3% of total film spend and a 3.5% increase on 2021)
Box office takings in the UK and the Republic of Ireland in 2022 totalled £945 million across 834 films, which is 57% more than for 2021’s £602 million earned by 438 releases, but 26% behind 2019’s total box office.
The highest grossing release of 2022 was Top Gun: Maverick with £83.7 million, representing 9% of the year’s total box office, followed by Avatar: The Way of Water, with £70.9 million (currently still on release). The top 20 film releases of the year in the UK and Republic of Ireland also feature six UK/USA feature films made in the UK: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Batman, Jurassic World: Dominion, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and Downton Abbey: A New Era.
In 2022 in the UK, Feature films in particular saw exponential growth in on location filming with Feature filming days increasing from 1,345 in 2021 to 1,551 in 2022 (an increase of 15%) with 106 Features shot on location last year. This is up from 90 in 2021 and a significant increase on 2020 (when 46 Feature films shot) making it the highest number of Feature films in a year since 2017.
Here at the Tower Hamlets Film Office, managed by The Film Office, we had a more than 25% increase in filming and welcomed some fantastic productions into the borough including Apple TV Drama starring Gary Oldman ‘Slow Horses’, Marvel epic ‘Secret Invasion‘ and whole host of Netflix productions, ‘Treason’, ‘You’, ‘The Crown’, and the return of ‘Top Boy’ for it’s final season!
You can also read more about the BFI 2022 Stat Report by clicking the link here.
