\n<\/p>\n
Source: Box Office Mojo<\/p>\n
Notes: Amounts include North American box office revenues over the summer and are adjusted for inflation. Data for 2025 is preliminary.<\/p>\n
By The New York Times<\/p>\n
This was supposed to be the summer when the North American box office returned to form \u2014 finally from the pandemic slump.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that a dramatic reawakening of the industrywide domestic box office has begun,\u201d Adam Aron, chief executive of AMC Entertainment, the continent\u2019s largest theater operator, gleefully told analysts in May. He predicted that Hollywood\u2019s summer movies would be \u201cbarn burners, one after another.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moviegoers, alas, were not cooperative. Multiplexes in the United States and Canada had their worst summer since 1981, after adjusting for inflation and excluding the Covid pandemic years, when many theaters were closed for long periods.<\/p>\n
North American cinema box office revenues each summer<\/p>\n
Source: Box Office Mojo<\/p>\n
Notes: Summer is the first Friday in May through Labor Day weekend. Amounts are adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n
By The New York Times<\/p>\n
Is it time for Hollywood to concede that a lot of moviegoers in North America are never coming back? That movie theaters have permanently lost 20 to 25 percent of their customers?<\/p>\n
Those questions, which started as horrified whispers in studio hallways last year, have become more openly discussed in recent months.<\/p>\n
Weekly ticket sales over the summer highlight the concern. There were only two weeks when theaters in North America collected more than $300 million. Theaters exceeded that threshold nine weeks in the summer of 2019 when adjusting for inflation.<\/p>\n
Weekly summer North American box office revenue<\/p>\n
Source: Box Office Mojo<\/p>\n
Notes: Weeks are from Friday through Thursday. Amounts include revenues from Week 18 to Week 34 each year and are adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n
By The New York Times<\/p>\n
Even in 2024, also a year in which there were only two $300 million-plus weeks, total ticket sales for the summer were higher because of bigger hits, including \u201cInside Out 2\u201d and \u201cDeadpool & Wolverine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of the challenge for movie studios is marketing: Reaching a mass audience with ads for new movies has become harder, a result of media fragmentation.<\/p>\n
To cope, studios have increased their reliance on franchises with already-established fan bases. Over the summer, 26 movies collected at least $20 million in North America. Twenty of them were franchises of some sort \u2014 sequels, remakes, spinoffs, reboots or based on a hit video game.<\/p>\n
But almost all of Hollywood\u2019s franchises have been so overworked that they are delivering diminishing returns. More than half of the franchises released this summer have done worse than previous iterations.<\/p>\n
Cumulative North American box office revenue each week<\/p>\n
Source: Box Office Mojo<\/p>\n
Notes: Weeks are from Friday through Thursday. Amounts are adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n
By The New York Times<\/p>\n
Sequels and reboots that did about as well as previous iterations tended to be newer (the animated \u201cBad Guys\u201d series is only three years old) or had a special marketing hook (the \u201c28 Days\u201d series brought back Danny Boyle, its founding director).<\/p>\n
Cumulative North American box office revenue each week<\/p>\n
Source: Box Office Mojo<\/p>\n
Notes: Weeks are from Friday through Thursday. Amounts are adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n
By The New York Times<\/p>\n
Nothing is more valuable to a movie studio than a revived franchise. Disney did just that over the summer with \u201cLilo & Stitch,\u201d an animation and live-action hybrid movie that benefited from pent-up demand. (The film\u2019s franchise predecessor came out in 2002.) Disney also successfully rebooted its \u201cFantastic Four\u201d superhero movie series, albeit on a more modest scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuperman,\u201d from Warner\u2019s DC Studios, did not do as well as \u201cMan of Steel,\u201d the company\u2019s previous stand-alone Superman movie. But the new installment did well enough \u2014 about $352 million in domestic ticket sales \u2014 to justify another chapter. Warner Bros. has fast-tracked a \u201cSuperman\u201d follow-up.<\/p>\n
Cumulative North American box office revenue each week<\/p>\n
Sources: Box Office Mojo, The Numbers<\/p>\n
Notes: Weeks are from Friday through Thursday. Weekly data for Superman (1978) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) is limited. Amounts are adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n
By The New York Times<\/p>\n
Which is to say: Hollywood\u2019s franchise strategy is not going anywhere. As of now, studios have at least 14 franchise films scheduled for summer 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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