Summer Box Office Tops $4B Behind Spider-Man, Odyssey — SkimNews
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- "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" eclipsed "Avengers: Endgame's" all-time opening weekend record with $360 million domestically and has since generated $2.078 billion globally; B&B Theatres CEO Bob Bagby said screenings were added at 8 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. to keep up with demand, with no staff getting Sunday off.
- Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" has grossed $1.29 billion globally, with Imax alone contributing $354 million, making the nearly three-hour Greek epic another must-see theatrical event fueling what exhibitors called "a march of billion-dollar movies."
- The summer box office eclipsed $4 billion for just the second time since COVID, driven by "Brand New Day," "The Odyssey," "Toy Story 5," "Michael," and "Project Hail Mary," with theater owners reporting customers staying through end credits and repeat "Odyssey" viewings.
- Exhibitors are watching the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger with concern about reduced film output; Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has promised at least 30 films a year from the combined studios.
- The fall calendar lacks four-quadrant tentpoles but offers volume, with nearly every weekend through Halloween featuring two to five new nationwide releases including Tom Cruise's "Digger," "Practical Magic 2," and Zach Cregger's "Resident Evil" reboot.
- The holiday slate stacks "Avengers: Doomsday," "Dune: Part III," "Hunger Games" prequel "Sunrise on the Reaping," and "Ebenezer," which exhibitors say could push yearly domestic revenues past $10 billion for the first time since the pandemic.
Why it matters: Theater owners battered by streaming, COVID, and the strikes now see the strongest sustained attendance since 2019, with $4 billion summer revenue signaling the theatrical model remains viable for blockbuster IP. The near-term test is whether fall's volume-heavy slate can sustain momentum before December tentpoles "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Dune: Part III" arrive to push yearly domestic past $10 billion.
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