It has been an incredible year for film in 2023. Despite the turbulence in Hollywood during the SAG-AFTRA strike, the industry has firmly found its feet after the coronavirus pandemic. From family franchises to breath-taking animation, movie musicals and gore-filled horrors, cinema has soared higher, further and faster to make sure there has been something for everyone.
While Barbie broke the box-office, established franchises released some of the most popular films of the year in the UK such as the live action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Pixar’s Elemental and another action-packed instalment in John Wick: Chapter 4.
However, JustWatch found that the top film of 2023 was Marvel’s final outing for the Guardians in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. James Gunn’s epic threequel was the most popular film according to our UK user. This was calculated using JustWatch’s popularity score, which includes user activity such as clicks on streaming offers, adding a title to a watchlist or marking it as ‘seen’.
Disney+ was home to half of the most popular films of the year, including James Cameron’s long-awaited return to Pandora in Avatar: The Way of Water. Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania also made the top ten, after its release in cinemas back in February.
The fan-favourite board game adapted to the big-screen in Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves also made the elite list. The Chris Pine-led film resonated with audiences as it captured the friendship and camaraderie found at the heart of the game, and its players. Alongside this, families sought out Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, while adults gorged on raucous comedies and horror in M3GAN and Cocaine Bear.
Here’s the 10 most popular films of the year and where to stream them from the United Kingdom.