Box Office: Could this summer set a post-COVID record with USD 4B in global ticket sales courtesy of Superman, Jurassic World Rebirth, and more?

With blockbuster titles like Superman, Jurassic World: Rebirth, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning on the slate, summer 2025 is shaping up to be a critical season for the film industry—one that could surpass the USD 4 billion mark in global box office sales for the first time since the pandemic.

Cinema owner Mark O’Meara, watching this year’s Oscars from home, was moved when Anora director Sean Baker used his Best Director victory speech to encourage audiences to return to theaters. For O’Meara, who runs an independent cinema, the moment felt personal. He told Variety recently that he reckoned Baker was talking about people like him and theaters like his that are still recovering from COVID’s blow to the industry and a slow start to 2025’s box office.

The early part of the year saw little traction, with high-profile titles like Snow White and Captain America: Brave New World underperforming. But April brought renewed momentum thanks to surprise hits A Minecraft Movie and Sinners. Now, with the summer movie season officially underway, optimism is spreading among theater owners and Hollywood insiders alike.

“There’s been a shift,” acknowledged O’Meara, saying the box office went from cautious to hopeful thanks to the promising lineup.

Running from May through August, the summer season is traditionally the most lucrative stretch for theaters, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the year’s revenue. Since the pandemic, only 2023, driven by the Barbenheimer phenomenon, hit that milestone. Analysts believe 2025 could replicate or even surpass it.

Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian labels this summer slate a crowd-pleaser, saying there’s something for every demographic.

The season kicked off with Marvel’s Thunderbolts, which debuted to USD 75 million. Memorial Day could bring another surge with Lilo & Stitch and the latest Mission: Impossible. From there, the calendar is packed with major releases including Fantastic Four: First Steps, Pixar’s Elio, The Bad Guys 2, How to Train Your Dragon, 28 Years Later, the most anticipated release of the year, per Letterboxd, and more.

Though franchises will likely dominate, studios are also pinning hopes on new entries like Brad Pitt’s F1 and more. Disney’s Andrew Cripps notes that while sequels are safe bets, fresh IPs are also quintessential to thrive.

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