Behind the Numbers: How Hollywood Missed Its Mark This Summer

By Christine Zhang and Brooks Barnes

Sept. 3, 2025

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Top 5 summer movies by domestic revenue

$2.6

billion

$2.4

billion

$2.1

billion

$2.1

billion

$1.6

billion

2019

2022

2024

2025

2023

$2.6 billion

Top 5 summer movies by domestic revenue

$2.4 billion

$2.1 billion

$2.1 billion

$1.6 billion

2019

2022

2024

2025

2023

Source: Box Office Mojo

Notes: Amounts include North American box office revenues over the summer and are adjusted for inflation. Data for 2025 is preliminary.

By The New York Times

This was supposed to be the summer when the North American box office returned to form — finally from the pandemic slump.

“We believe that a dramatic reawakening of the industrywide domestic box office has begun,” Adam Aron, chief executive of AMC Entertainment, the continent’s largest theater operator, gleefully told analysts in May. He predicted that Hollywood’s summer movies would be “barn burners, one after another.”

Moviegoers, alas, were not cooperative. Multiplexes in the United States and Canada had their worst summer since 1981, after adjusting for inflation and excluding the Covid pandemic years, when many theaters were closed for long periods.

A lackluster summer for the movies

North American cinema box office revenues each summer

Source: Box Office Mojo

Notes: Summer is the first Friday in May through Labor Day weekend. Amounts are adjusted for inflation.

By The New York Times

Is it time for Hollywood to concede that a lot of moviegoers in North America are never coming back? That movie theaters have permanently lost 20 to 25 percent of their customers?

Those questions, which started as horrified whispers in studio hallways last year, have become more openly discussed in recent months.

Weekly ticket sales over the summer highlight the concern. There were only two weeks when theaters in North America collected more than $300 million. Theaters exceeded that threshold nine weeks in the summer of 2019 when adjusting for inflation.

Only two weeks this summer surpassed $300 million in ticket sales

Weekly summer North American box office revenue

The Lion King

released this week

Barbie

$500 million

Deadpool & Wolverine

Lilo &

Stitch

Thor: Love and Thunder

400

Inside

Out 2

Superman

300

200

100

2022

2023

2024

2025

2019

May

Aug.

May

Aug.

Barbie

The Lion King

released this week

$500 million

Deadpool & Wolverine

Lilo &

Stitch

Thor: Love and

Thunder

Inside Out 2

400

Superman

300

200

100

2022

2023

2024

2025

2019

Aug.

Aug.

May

May

Source: Box Office Mojo

Notes: Weeks are from Friday through Thursday. Amounts include revenues from Week 18 to Week 34 each year and are adjusted for inflation.

By The New York Times

Even in 2024, also a year in which there were only two $300 million-plus weeks, total ticket sales for the summer were higher because of bigger hits, including “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

Part of the challenge for movie studios is marketing: Reaching a mass audience with ads for new movies has become harder, a result of media fragmentation.

To cope, studios have increased their reliance on franchises with already-established fan bases. Over the summer, 26 movies collected at least $20 million in North America. Twenty of them were franchises of some sort — sequels, remakes, spinoffs, reboots or based on a hit video game.

But almost all of Hollywood’s franchises have been so overworked that they are delivering diminishing returns. More than half of the franchises released this summer have done worse than previous iterations.

Three films that underperformed compared withprevious iterations

Cumulative North American box office revenue each week

Marvel Cinematic

Universe summer

releases

Jurassic Park

Jurassic World (2015)

The Avengers (2012)

$750

million

Jurassic Park (1993)

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Jurassic World:

Fallen Kingdom

(2018)

500

Jurassic World:

Rebirth (2025)

Guardians Vol. 3 (2023)

Fantastic Four (2025)

Jurassic Park III (2001)

250

Black Widow (2021)

Thunderbolts* (2025)

Week 1

10

15

Week 1

10

15

Marvel Cinematic Universe summer releases

Jurassic Park

The Avengers (2012)

Jurassic World (2015)

$750

million

Jurassic Park (1993)

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Jurassic World:

Fallen Kingdom (2018)

500

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)

Fantastic Four (2025)

Jurassic Park III (2001)

250

Black Widow (2021)

Thunderbolts* (2025)

Week 1

5

10

15

Week 1

5

10

15

Source: Box Office Mojo

Notes: Weeks are from Friday through Thursday. Amounts are adjusted for inflation.

By The New York Times

Sequels and reboots that did about as well as previous iterations tended to be newer (the animated “Bad Guys” series is only three years old) or had a special marketing hook (the “28 Days” series brought back Danny Boyle, its founding director).

Two films that performed on a par with previous iterations

Cumulative North American box office revenue each week

How to Train Your Dragon

28 Days

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

(2025)

$250 million

The Hidden World (2019)

28 Days Later (2002)

28 Years Later (2025)

28 Weeks Later (2007)

Week 1

10

15

Week 1

10

15

How to Train Your Dragon

28 Days

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

$250 million

(2025)

The Hidden World (2019)

28 Days Later (2002)

28 Years Later (2025)

28 Weeks Later (2007)

Week 1

5

10

15

Week 1

10

15

Source: Box Office Mojo

Notes: Weeks are from Friday through Thursday. Amounts are adjusted for inflation.

By The New York Times

Nothing is more valuable to a movie studio than a revived franchise. Disney did just that over the summer with “Lilo & Stitch,” an animation and live-action hybrid movie that benefited from pent-up demand. (The film’s franchise predecessor came out in 2002.) Disney also successfully rebooted its “Fantastic Four” superhero movie series, albeit on a more modest scale.

“Superman,” from Warner’s DC Studios, did not do as well as “Man of Steel,” the company’s previous stand-alone Superman movie. But the new installment did well enough — about $352 million in domestic ticket sales — to justify another chapter. Warner Bros. has fast-tracked a “Superman” follow-up.

Two films that performed better than previous iterations

Cumulative North American box office revenue each week

Superman

Fantastic Four

Man of Steel (2013)

Superman (2025)

$250

million

Fantastic Four (2025)

Superman Returns (2006)

Fantastic Four (2005)

Superman III (1983)

Fantastic Four (2015)

Week 1

10

15

Week 1

10

15

Superman

Fantastic Four

Man of Steel (2013)

Superman (2025)

$250 million

Fantastic Four (2025)

Superman Returns (2006)

Fantastic Four (2005)

Superman III (1983)

Fantastic Four (2015)

Week 1

5

10

15

Week 1

5

10

15

Sources: Box Office Mojo, The Numbers

Notes: Weeks are from Friday through Thursday. Weekly data for Superman (1978) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) is limited. Amounts are adjusted for inflation.

By The New York Times

Which is to say: Hollywood’s franchise strategy is not going anywhere. As of now, studios have at least 14 franchise films scheduled for summer 2026.

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