Production Accelerates Into 2026: +52% YoY, UK New Starts Share 27% - new report now live
If you’ve been hearing mixed signals about where production is heading, it’s worth taking a look at Sohonet’s latest Screen Production Index. It’s a bottoms-up view of what’s actually happening across the US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland, built from confirmed active productions and forward pipelines.
So what’s the report saying about where production is heading?
Q1 2026 +52% on Q1 2025
Our projected production count for Q1 2026 is +52% on Q1 2025. This has grown by 14% since last month’s report, reflecting a continued strengthening in near-term activity.
January starts: up year-on-year, below peak
The count of new productions in January was up 24% on January 2025, and down 34% on January 2022 (peak). This count was down by 18% on last month’s projection, largely due to a handful of productions shifting within the quarter.
Budgets: steady versus 2025, trending upwards
The smoothed value of production budgets, representing the total value of budget being spent in the market at this instant, is level with the same point in 2025, but trending upwards. We would expect this to follow a positive trajectory similar to 2024.
Tentpoles building early for 2026
We already see 77 tentpole ‘L’ and ‘XL’ productions slated for 2026. In the complete data for 2025, there were only 86.
UK starts strong
The UK started 2026 strong, with a 27% share of new productions versus a 2025 share of 22%.
Studio view: Warner strength despite noise
Despite noise around the prospective acquisition, WB is in line for a strong year, with 5 of the 16 upcoming ‘XL’ productions belonging to Warner.
Get the latest report
Download the free snapshot report or get the full 10+ page Insight report for deeper charts, production-line data, and market trends in the February Sohonet Screen Production Index.