Domestic summer box office earnings falter, with revenues barely surpassing last year's figures, due to an apparent kryptonite-like influence.
In the world of cinema, one studio that's still shining bright is Warner Bros., riding high on a winning streak. However, the overall picture for the summer box office is far from rosy.
Streaming and home viewing have become increasingly popular, potentially impacting the number of cinema-goers, and it seems pre-COVID levels may never be equaled again. This is evident in the domestic box office, which has seen a downturn every weekend for six weeks in a row since June 13, diminishing the year-over-year advantage to a mere 5 percent.
The summer lineup, assumed to equal or surpass the $4.09 billion grossed in summer 2023, has fallen short. Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning managed to fuel a record Memorial Day weekend, with Lilo becoming the only 2025 title to cross $1 billion at the global box office so far.
Yet, the percentage of people preferring to wait to see a summer movie on streaming has increased from 25% to more than 36%. This sentiment is not universal, as theater owners and many other studios believe the solution lies in more product delivered to their big screens.
However, concern is growing among studio executives. One top studio executive expressed, "I'm very, very nervous for the future. There are all these studios and companies making movies. I don't think there is enough of an audience for them."
Mission: Impossible was among numerous tentpoles competing for male eyeballs in the U.S., but its foreign box office earnings have decreased compared to previous installments. Pictures targeting parents and kids, such as Lilo and The Bad Guys 2, are doing record numbers in Latin America.
The box office revenue for the summer season of 2025 in North America barely matched the $3.67 billion collected in 2024, with a deficit of $7 million. The rerelease of Steven Spielberg's 50-year-old movie Jaws even beat two new studio films domestically over Labor Day.
The downturn in the foreign box office, particularly in Asia, has affected the performance of superhero films such as Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman. David Croye, founder and CEO of JustWatch, predicts that the studio system may not be able to fill the gap caused by the pandemic in the moviegoing market.
The season started off with a bang, but grosses took a nosedive in the latter half as the foreign box office nearly deflated and a glut of male-skewing tentpoles battled for scraps. Lilo & Stitch remains the only 2025 title to cross $1 billion worldwide due to its known IP and family appeal.
Surprise hits of the summer include Weapons and F1: The Movie, with F1 passing up Superman on Aug. 27. Studio executives and exhibitors are in a state of shock, wrestling with how to operate in a new world order where moviegoing might never return to pre-COVID levels. The release of a major film is expected to surpass the summer box office revenue of 2025, but whether it will be enough to revive the industry remains to be seen.
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