Having extra time to binge-watch on your favourite streaming services during lockdown has meant a lot of us have made it through our 'to-watch' lists with ease. However, if there's one thing being stuck at home has taught film lovers, it's that things just aren't the same when they're not on the big screen!

With cinemas set to reopen in the UK from 10th July, we wanted to find out which films people wish they had been able to see at the cinema when they were first released. We polled 1,513 of our customers and they chose cult shark thriller Jaws as the film they would most want to see at the cinema.

The iconic Spielberg flick, first released in December 1975, beat the original Star Wars trilogy (1977, 1980, 1983), and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) to the top spot. Peter Jackson's epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003) takes fourth place, while romantic comedy The Princess Bride (1987) was a surprise entry to complete the top five.

Films people wish they had seen at the cinema

Pixabay/Derks24

The top 20 films are:

  1. Jaws - 93%
  2. Star Wars (original trilogy) - 91%
  3. The Shining - 83%
  4. The Lord of the Rings trilogy - 82%
  5. The Princess Bride - 80%
  6. Alien - 78%
  7. Raiders of the Lost Ark - 74%
  8. Saving Private Ryan - 69%
  9. Jurassic Park - 67%
  10. The Exorcist - 63%
  11. The Godfather - 62%
  12. Scream - 60%
  13. Gladiator - 44%
  14. The Matrix trilogy - 43%
  15. Back to the Future - 42%
  16. The Rocky Horror Picture Show - 41%
  17. Titanic - 38%
  18. E.T. - 36%
  19. Ghostbusters (1984) - 33%
  20. Forrest Gump - 30%
Films people wish they had seen at the cinema

Pixabay/mermyhh

More than half of those we polled (53%) said sci-fi/fantasy is the best genre to watch in the cinema, while nearly a third (32%) said horror. Just 6% said rom-coms were better on the big screen.

Thanks to Covid-19, several big film releases have had to be rescheduled for later in 2020, or even into 2021. The film people were most disappointed about being postponed was Daniel Craig's last outing as James Bond in No Time To Die; originally scheduled for release in April, it will now hit cinemas in November. Marvel's Black Widow came in second, having moved from 1st May to 6th November, followed by Wonder Woman 1984 in third place, moving from June to 2nd October.

When asked, more than a third of people (34%) told us that the cinema was the top leisure activity they missed during lockdown. The most missed leisure activity was going to the pub, with 37% of the vote. Looking at our internal data, we've seen a 365% increase in sales of at-home projectors since lockdown began as people seem keen to recreate the experience at home.

Cas Paton, founder and CEO of OnBuy, said,

"Jaws is an iconic film and a very worthy winner from our poll. There's nothing better than escaping reality for a few hours, so it's no surprise people have been missing the cinema. We're glad to have been able to help our customers bring a little of that escapism into their homes during lockdown with sales of projectors rising across all brands, however it seems when it comes to that film experience you just can't beat the real silver screen.

"The only question now is: come July 10th, what will you see first?"