The UK’s Top 10 Most Popular Movies of the Year (2023)

Updated on

Jess Bacon

Jess Bacon

JustWatch Editor

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 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 . This was calculated using JustWatch’s popularity score, which includes 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 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 M3GAN and Cocaine Bear.

Here’s the 10 most popular films of the year and where to stream them from the United Kingdom.

  1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

    # 1

    Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own - a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful.

  2. Avatar: The Way of Water

    # 2

    Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

  3. John Wick: Chapter 4

    John Wick: Chapter 4

    2023

    # 3

    With the price on his head ever increasing, John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.

  4. The Little Mermaid

    The Little Mermaid

    2023

    # 4

    The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea, and while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. With mermaids forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land, but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.

  5. Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical

    # 5

    An extraordinary young girl discovers her superpower and summons the remarkable courage, against all odds, to help others change their stories, whilst also taking charge of her own destiny. Standing up for what's right, she's met with miraculous results.

  6. M3GAN

    M3GAN

    2022

    # 6

    A brilliant toy company roboticist uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to emotionally bond with her newly orphaned niece. But when the doll's programming works too well, she becomes overprotective of her new friend with terrifying results.

  7. Cocaine Bear

    Cocaine Bear

    2023

    # 7

    An oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converge on a Georgia forest where a huge black bear goes on a murderous rampage after unintentionally ingesting cocaine.

  8. Elemental

    Elemental

    2023

    # 8

    Follows Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, earth- and air-residents live together.

  9. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

    # 9

    A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.

  10. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

    # 10

    Super-Hero partners Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne, along with with Hope's parents Janet van Dyne and Hank Pym, and Scott's daughter Cassie Lang, find themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible.