Topline
Movie theaters just had their lowest-grossing summer in three years, as this year’s total barely fell below last summer’s gross as moviegoing cooled in August, despite early analyst expectations that this summer could have been a return to box office glory.
This summer, North American movie theaters grossed $3.67 billion from the beginning of May through Labor Day, just below the $3.68 billion movie theaters made in ticket sales during the summer of 2024, according to Comscore data.
The box office is a disappointment for theaters, as Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Forbes he initially thought this summer could have reached $4 billion based on the box office’s strong performance in May, though the summer box office cooled later in the season.
Though the summer started with the highest-grossing Memorial Day weekend in history, powered by “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” it went out with a whimper as Labor Day weekend was one of the worst weekends at the box office this year so far.
August, in particular, was a rough month for moviegoing: Dergarabedian told Forbes every weekend in August grossed less than the corresponding weekend from summer 2024, as weeks-old movies like “Weapons” and “Freakier Friday” continued to rule the box office without serious competition.
Both this summer and the summer of 2024 failed to match the “Barbenheimer”-powered summer of 2023, which was the best-performing summer after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted moviegoing, making $4.1 billion in total gross, according to Comscore data.
An unnamed studio executive told the Hollywood Reporter they are “very, very nervous for the future” following the disappointing summer box office returns, adding they “don’t think there is enough of an audience” for movies opening in theaters. Jeff Bock, a box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations, told Variety the summer moviegoing season should “start with a bang, end with a bang,” but “that didn’t happen this summer, and the results speak for themselves.”
After a strong start, the summer went out with a quiet August without any real blockbusters lighting up the box office. The biggest movie of August was “Weapons,” which has grossed $235 million worldwide and led the domestic box office for four weekends, but the box office faced some of the worst weekends of the year as the summer wound down. Last weekend grossed a paltry $55 million, the sixth-worst weekend of the year so far, according to Box Office Mojo, and $67 million in total over the holiday weekend. Though “Weapons” won Labor Day weekend, the second highest-grossing movie was “Jaws,” a re-release of the 50-year-old classic film, which handily outgrossed two new movies in “Caught Stealing” and “The Roses.” The end of August narrowly avoided being even worse, as Netflix decided to release its smash hit “KPop Demon Hunters” in theaters for two days, which grossed $18 million. Unlike some analysts had expected, this summer’s superhero hits—including “Superman,” but particularly “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”—fizzled through August. The summer of 2024 was a different story, as the billion-dollar blockbuster “Deadpool & Wolverine” ruled the season’s final weeks.
“Lilo & Stitch” was this summer’s clear winner, making $423 million at the domestic box office and just over $1 billion worldwide. Close behind were “Superman,” which made $351 million domestically, and “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” which grossed $338 million. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” made $266 million at the domestic box office and just over $500 million worldwide.
The box office is in for another few quiet months, Dergarabedian told Forbes, as the release calendar for September and October lack potential blockbusters. In the coming months, theaters will “have to rely on the cumulative success of some expected mid-range performers,” Dergarabedian said, including “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” which opens in theaters Friday, and “Tron: Ares,” a sequel to the 2010 film “Tron: Legacy,” which opens in October. But November and December hold more promise, with highly anticipated sequels “Wicked: For Good” and “Zootopia 2” hitting theaters, as well as James Cameron’s third installment in his blockbuster “Avatar” franchise, “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
Summer Box Office Grinds To A Halt With Lack Of Big Releases (Forbes)