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Summer Box Office Fails to Reach $4B Milestone Despite Blockbuster Slate
24 Aug
Summary
- Domestic box office reaches $3.53B, falling short of $4B target
- "Lilo & Stitch" is highest-grossing film of the summer with $1.03B globally
- Several major releases underperform, including "Thunderbolts" and "The Fantastic Four"
As the 2025 summer movie season winds down, it has become clear that the domestic box office will fall short of the industry's $4 billion target. According to Comscore data, overall revenues from May 1 to August 24 have reached $3.53 billion, a disappointing result considering the high expectations for the season.
The summer is typically the most profitable period for the movie business, accounting for around 40% of the annual box office. However, the industry has only surpassed the $4 billion mark once since the COVID-19 pandemic, during the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon in 2023. This year's slate, which on paper was one of the strongest ever, failed to ignite the same level of enthusiasm among moviegoers.
The highest-grossing film of the summer was Disney's "Lilo & Stitch," which has earned $421 million domestically and $1.03 billion globally. Other bright spots included "Jurassic World Rebirth," "How to Train Your Dragon," and "Superman." But these successes were not enough to offset the underperformance of several major tentpole releases, such as "Thunderbolts" ($382 million) and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" ($471 million), both of which fell short of the heights of prior Marvel movies. Additionally, Pixar's "Elio" ($150 million), the latest "Mission: Impossible" ($597 million), and "M3GAN 2.0" ($39 million) all struggled to connect with audiences.
As the industry looks ahead to the rest of the year, the fall movie slate is lacking a sure-fire blockbuster hit, and the momentum is expected to remain sluggish until the release of "Wicked: For Good" and "Zootopia 2" around Thanksgiving.
