Where have all the hit summer movies gone?
“Nothing has really broken through this year,” says Sean McNulty on this week’s Monday Morning Quarterbacks show. “Inside Out 2, Barbie, Top Gun: Maverick — we didn’t have movies like that this summer.”
Lilo & Stitch crossed $1 billion this weekend, but it wasn’t the typical juggernaut ($1.4 billion or more) we’re used to seeing over the summer — and it might be the only title this season to break that threshold. The next best? Jurassic World Rebirth, headed to under $1 billion — a first for the franchise. Meanwhile, despite some great returns in North America, Superman has been hobbled internationally (presumably by its stars-and-stripes branding and unknown star). David Zaslav’s favorite summer movie has grossed $406 million worldwide, but only 42 percent is from overseas. (On a more optimistic note, Superman, leading the pack with $57 million in its second weekend in North America, has successfully relaunched the DC brand, no small feat after years of failed projects.)
Yes, the 2025 summer box office is up 15 percent over last year. But unless The Fantastic Four: First Steps can reach Deadpool & Wolverine heights ($1.3 billion worldwide), and August programmers like The Bad Guys 2, Weapons and Freakier Friday break big, it’s shaping up as a down year overall.
“Just to boil it down, we don’t have any small films breaking out. The mid sector is dead — we don’t make those anymore. And we don’t have enough big films,” Richard Rushfield says, before adding a sarcastic, “So yeah, everything’s great!”
Meanwhile, Sony’s horror legacyquel I Know What You Did Last Summer opened to a soft $13 million, so the duo questions the studio’s reboot fever. And F1, at $461 million globally right now, is racing to lose money for Apple. But could it be a franchise boon in the long run?
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