Box office misses summer target but remains strong

With the arrival of several major films this summer, the box office was in a position to expect some very interesting financial figures.

The box office racked up no less than US$3.53 billion between May 1 and August 24. Hollywood’s objective was to break the $4 billion (US) barrier for the second time since the pandemic.

Only 2023, with the release ofOppenheimer and Barbie, exceeded $4G (US) during this period.

https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1959700008518799457

In fact, the summer period is the most profitable for the box office, accounting for 40% of annual revenues, but with this period drawing to a close, the mission will not be accomplished this year. Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian notes that the summer movie ecosystem is unstable, and believes that Hollywood will have to rethink its recipe to keep audiences interested for years to come.

On a positive note, with $3.53 billion (US) so far, 2025 has beaten 2024’s $3.52 billion (US).

Among the summer’s most profitable films, Lilo & Stitch topped the list with $421M (US) in North America and $1.03B (US) worldwide. It’s the only summer film to top the billion-dollar mark.

For the others, Jurrasic Rebirth with $844M (US), How to Train Your Dragon with $626M (US), Superman with $604M (US) and F1: The Movie with $603M (US) were also successful globally.

James Gunn’s Superman is now at $604.5 million globally, putting it ahead of all other superhero films released in 2025 so far, with its closest competitor, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, lagging behind by over $100 million. https://t.co/cqITJfmjx7 pic.twitter.com/BCeEALfEjx

— IGN (@IGN) August 25, 2025

On the other hand, Marvel failed to repeat its past success with big titles, including Thunderbolts* with $382M (US) and The Fantastic Four: First Steps with $471M (US). Also, Elio with $150m (US), Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning with $597m (US) and M3GAN 2.0 at $39m (US) failed to live up to box-office expectation

August, September and October are seen as quieter months for the box office, so the end of the year looks slow, according to David A. Gross, of Franchise Entertainment Research. 2025 should, however, be able to beat 2024 in revenues by the end of the year, according to Gross.