Was the summer box office a win for Hollywood? The trades seem to think so and are happy to argue with anyone who says otherwise. But Richard Rushfield and Sean McNulty are calling BS.
At $3.67 billion in domestic earnings, summer 2025 ended just 0.2 percent below 2024. But last year was plagued by the impact of the 2023 strikes. This year? A host of tired franchises, a lack of depth and no runaway hits à la 2024’s Inside Out 2 or Deadpool & Wolverine. “It’s not going to be a summer to remember. It was billed as ‘[This summer], we’re firing on all cylinders,’” Sean says. But, “This summer ran out of gas.”
For Richard, the underperforming box office reaffirms his belief in what he deems the overarching lesson of the decade: “You can’t take anything for granted,” he says. “You can never sleepwalk your way into a hit anymore.”
Still, there were some bright spots, and Richard & Sean dole out their summer awards, including the biggest surprise hit (Weapons) and MVPs (Brad Pitt, Mike & Pam, Universal). Plus, our Monday Morning QBs (reporting for duty on this post-Labor Day Tuesday) discuss the fragility of the superhero genre after The Fantastic Four and Superman’s lackluster international outings, what Richard is looking forward to at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and why summer 2026 should — hopefully — blow past 2024 and 2025.
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