The summer box office season in North America barely matched last year's revenue, with a significant decline in foreign ticket sales and a surge in streaming preferences, leading to a challenging outlook for Hollywood's theatrical future.
'Weapons' leads the Labor Day weekend box office with an estimated $12-13 million, bringing its total to $135 million and nearing the domestic gross of the original 'The Conjuring.' The summer box office is expected to close around $3.6 billion, similar to last year, with 'Jaws' and other new releases also performing. Overall, the summer has been stable, with some movies like 'Freakier Friday' and 'The Roses' also contributing to the weekend's box office.
The summer box office in 2025 is projected to fall short of the $4 billion milestone, reaching approximately $3.53 billion, due to underperforming tentpoles and lack of a major hit, despite some successful films like 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'Jurassic World Rebirth'. The industry remains below pre-pandemic levels, and recovery is expected to be slow through the rest of the year.
Netflix's 'Kpop Demon Hunters' surprisingly leads the North American box office with an estimated $18-20 million debut, despite being available on streaming for two months, driven by sold-out showings and fan enthusiasm. 'Weapons' remains strong with $15.6 million, while other films like 'Freakier Friday' and 'Honey Don't!' show varied performances amid a slow summer weekend. Overall, the box office is slightly ahead of last year but still below pre-pandemic levels, with summer revenues falling short of $4 billion.
The 2025 summer box office is underperforming expectations, with grosses unlikely to surpass $4 billion due to a lack of major hits and underwhelming performances of key films like 'Fantastic Four' and others, despite some successes like 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'Jurassic World Rebirth'. The industry is experiencing a challenging season, with revenues falling short of previous years, though some analysts remain cautiously optimistic about a rebound.
The film 'Weapons' continues to dominate the weekend box office with a $25M second weekend, maintaining its top spot despite a 43% drop, while 'Nobody 2' opens with $9.25M. Overall, the weekend grossed around $92M, marking the first sub-$100M weekend in 13 weeks, with 'Weapons' performing strongly both domestically and internationally.
Disney's live-action 'Lilo & Stitch' has broken multiple box office records during its opening Memorial Day weekend, contributing to what may be the best summer box office since COVID-19, with a projected $4.2 billion in the US and Canada, and achieving notable milestones in domestic and international markets.
Movie theater stocks surged after a record-breaking Memorial Day weekend, with a total box office of $326 million driven by releases like Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'Mission Impossible,' indicating a strong summer outlook for the industry.
The summer box office continues to struggle with a significant drop in revenue compared to last year. Sony's "The Garfield Movie" leads with $14M in its second weekend, while Paramount's "IF" narrowly beats Warner Bros.' "Furiosa" for second place. "Furiosa," a prequel to "Mad Max: Fury Road," has underperformed with a global total of $114.4M against its $168M budget. Other notable releases include Crunchyroll/Sony's "Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle" and IFC's horror film "In a Violent Nature," which had a strong opening. Despite the downturn, some event movies like "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" are performing well.
The summer box office has reached $4 billion in domestic revenue, thanks to the success of films like "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." "Barbie" is the highest-grossing film of the summer and the year, earning $612 million in North America and $1.36 billion globally. "Oppenheimer" also exceeded expectations with $311 million domestically and $850 million worldwide. Other top earners include "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," "The Little Mermaid" remake, and "Sound of Freedom." While this year's revenues have improved compared to the pandemic years, it has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. However, the fall movie slate is relatively light, with few major releases due to delays caused by ongoing strikes.