Kneecap among the top performers as Irish box office totals €102.5m

The comedy drama Kneecap depicts the rise of Kneecap, the hip-hop trio from Belfast. The movie premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and was the first Irish language movie to do so where it won the NEXT Audience Award.

Two Irish movies, Small Things Like These and Kneecap last year broke into the top 25 box office performers at the cinema here.

That is according to the 2024 annual report for the Irish Film Classification Office (Ifco) which shows the biggest movie at the Irish box office last year was Disney’s Inside Out 2, which grossed €6.2m.

Inside Out 2 was well ahead of the second biggest hit at the box office last year, Despicable Me 4, which grossed €4.83m.

Paul Mescal’s much anticipated Gladiator II opened in November to mixed reviews and recorded the fifth highest box office of the year at €3.67m, and was edged out of the top four by Deadpool & Wolverine, which grossed €4.36m and Wicked which enjoyed a box-office of €3.83m.

No Irish film broke into the top 25 box office movies for 2023 but last year, two did, with Small Things Like These ranked 11th and had a box office of €2.4m, while Kneecap had a box office of €1.14m and was ranked 25th.

The report says total box office revenue in 2024 at the Irish cinema was €102.5m, up €1.5m on 2023, while total box office admissions in 2024 was 11.62m, up 1% on 2023.

In his report, Ifco director Dr Ciarán Kissane said: “It is great to see Irish titles, Kneecap and Small Things Like These, in the top 25 box office earners in 2024.” 

Small Things Like These stars Cillian Murphy and Emily Watson and was adapted for the screen by Enda Walsh from the best-selling Claire Keegan 2021 novel.

The comedy drama Kneecap movie depicts the rise of Kneecap, the hip-hop trio from Belfast. The movie premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and was the first Irish language movie to do so where it won the NEXT Audience Award.