BRIDGET JONES’S BABY came out on top in the Irish box office last year.

In a year dominated by family and action films, the romantic comedy starring Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth took in €4.1 million.

Although the top film of 2016 was a comedy –  half of all of the films in the top ten were superhero movies, three were family films and there was just one sci-fi and one comedy.

A female-driven comedy hasn’t taken the number one spot in the ROI since Bridesmaids in 2011.

Action 

Total box office receipts for 2016 reached €107.5 million which is an increase of 3% on 2015’s figure of €104.1 million and 8% up on 2014’s figure of €99.9 million.

Family films generated 27% of all box office revenue and three of the top four films were family movies.

The Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory, was the most popular family film, closely followed by The Secret Life of Pets and the live-action remake of The Jungle Book.

(For a larger image of the above table, click here) 

Action films were behind 24% of all box office takings and despite 52% of all action movie revenue coming from superhero movies, the top action film was the action/fantasy Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Five of the top ten movies were superhero action films and 13% of the overall box office revenue in 2016 was generated by action films featuring superheroes.

The Young Offenders and Sing Street were not only the top performing Irish films but also among the top performing comedies overall.

The top five comedies were Bridget Jones’s Baby, Daddy’s Home, The Young Offenders, Central Intelligence and Sing Street.

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