## Studio-By-Studio Summer Market Share: The Box Office Haves and Have Nots (2025) **Report Provider:** The Hollywood Reporter **Author:** Pamela McClintock **Date Covered:** Summer 2025 (May 2 - September 1) **Published At:** September 3, 2025 This report from The Hollywood Reporter analyzes the 2025 summer box office performance, highlighting the market share of major studios and the standout successes and struggles of individual films. ### Key Findings and Conclusions: * **Disney Maintains Lead, Warner Bros. Roars Back:** Disney held onto its top position in summer market share, but Warner Bros. emerged as the "toast of the town" with a strong second-place finish. * **Warner Bros.' Resurgence:** The studio's comeback was largely driven by unexpected hits like *Weapons* and *F1: The Movie*, along with carryover revenue from spring releases *A Minecraft Movie* and *Sinners*. This success defied earlier doubts about studio heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. * **"F1: The Movie" a Surprise Blockbuster:** *F1: The Movie*, an Apple Original Film distributed and marketed by Warner Bros., defied expectations by grossing over **$613 million** worldwide. Its success is notable given the lead star's age (early 60s) and the sport's relatively lower popularity in the U.S. The film also surpassed *Superman* in box office earnings on August 27th, becoming the top-grossing sports film of all time and the best of Brad Pitt's career (unadjusted for inflation). * **"Weapons" a Critical and Commercial Success:** Zach Cregger's original film *Weapons* was a significant success, grossing over **$250 million** against a modest **$38 million** budget, becoming a cultural sensation. * **"Jurassic World Rebirth" a Franchise Revitalization:** Universal and Amblin successfully rebooted the *Jurassic* franchise with *Jurassic World Rebirth*, which became the summer's second-biggest film, earning over **$855.6 million** worldwide. This marks a successful third iteration of the franchise, over three decades after the original *Jurassic Park* in 1993. * **Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" Dominates Globally:** Disney's live-action *Lilo & Stitch* was the only film of the year to cross **$1 billion** globally, with total earnings of **$1.33 billion** through September 1st. Its appeal spans families and nostalgic Gen Z and teenagers, demonstrating the financial potential of tapping into existing IP and nostalgia. * **Universal's Steady Performance:** Beyond *Jurassic World Rebirth*, Universal also saw success with DreamWorks Animation's live-action *How to Train Your Dragon*, which ranked as the third top-grossing Hollywood title of the summer with **$629 million** globally. This marks DWA's first foray into live-action adaptations of its library titles. * **Paramount and Sony Face Challenges:** Paramount experienced a challenging summer, awaiting the closure of the Skydance merger while releasing Tom Cruise's *Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning*. Sony, meanwhile, lacked a major summer tentpole due to delays caused by labor strikes. * **Superhero Fatigue Persists:** While *Superman* provided DC with a much-needed win over Marvel, earning **$611 million** worldwide, the broader issue of "superhero fatigue" continues to impact the box office, including foreign markets. ### Key Statistics and Metrics: * **Domestic Summer Revenue (May 2 - Sept 1):** **$3.672 billion** * **Domestic Summer Revenue Change from Last Year:** **-0.10%** (a slight decline from last year's $3.672 billion) * **Comscore's Initial Forecasted Decline:** -0.2% ### Notable Films and Their Performance: * **Disney's Lilo & Stitch:** **$1.33 billion** (Global, through Sept 1) - #1 film of the year globally. * **Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal/Amblin):** **$855.6 million** (Worldwide) - Summer's second-biggest film. * **How to Train Your Dragon (DreamWorks Animation/Universal):** **$629 million** (Global) - Third top-grossing Hollywood title of the summer. * **Superman (Warner Bros./DC Studios):** **$611 million** (Worldwide, to date) - A win for DC over Marvel. * **F1: The Movie (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros. Distribution):** **$613 million** (Worldwide, finished Labor Day) - Top-grossing sports pic of all time. * **Sinners (De Luca & Abdy Project):** **$455.7 million** (Globally, topped out) - A successful original film from April. * **Weapons (Warner Bros.):** **$250 million+** (To date) vs. **$38 million** (Budget) - A major original hit. * **Lilo & Stitch (Disney):** Ranked #9 on Fandango's most anticipated summer films list. * **Jurassic World Rebirth:** Ranked #1 on Fandango's most anticipated summer films list. ### Trends and Changes: * **Resurgence of Original Content:** The success of *Weapons* and *Sinners* demonstrates that original films can still achieve significant box office success. * **Nostalgia as a Financial Driver:** *Lilo & Stitch*'s global dominance highlights the continued financial power of tapping into established intellectual property and audience nostalgia. * **Live-Action Adaptations of Animation:** DWA's *How to Train Your Dragon* success suggests a growing trend of studios adapting their animated library into live-action formats. * **Challenging Environment for Established Franchises:** While *Jurassic World Rebirth* succeeded, the overall domestic box office saw a slight decline, indicating a potentially more discerning audience. ### Risks and Concerns: * **Superhero Fatigue:** The ongoing impact of superhero fatigue remains a significant concern for studios, particularly for Marvel and DC properties. * **Labor Strike Delays:** Sony's summer slate was significantly impacted by delays related to labor strikes, highlighting the vulnerability of production schedules. * **Market Share Competition:** While Disney maintained its lead, the strong performance of Warner Bros. and Apple Original Films indicates intense competition in the market. This summary provides a comprehensive overview of the 2025 summer box office, detailing the key players, their financial performances, and the underlying trends that shaped the season.
Studio-By-Studio Summer Market Share: The Box Office Haves and Have Nots
Read original at The Hollywood Reporter →Disney maintained its lead in summer marketshare at the 2025 box office but the toast of the town was Warner Bros., which came in a close second thanks to standout hits including Weapons, Superman and Apple Original Films’ record-smashing F1: The Movie starring Brad Pitt, as well as enjoying carryover money from spring blockbusters A Minecraft Movie and Sinners.
Not so long ago, some thought Warners film studio chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy were gone. Not anymore. Heading into the season, Weapons and F1 were nowhere to be found when Fandango put out its annual survey of the top-10 most anticipated summer films. The survey was close to being bang-on correct regarding No.
1 on the list, which was Jurassic World Rebirth. Many in Hollywood were dubious as to whether Universal and Amblin could reboot the Jurassic franchise for a third time, and birth a new trilogy more than three decades after Steven Spielberg’s dinos first stomped onto the big screen in 1993’s Jurassic Park.
But relaunch it they have. Jurassic World Rebirth is the summer’s second-biggest film, with more than $855.6 million in worldwide ticket sales behind Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch (Lilo was No. 9 on Fandango’s list). Yet Lilo is the only film of the year so far to have crossed $1 billion globally, with total earnings of $1.
33 billion through Sept. 1. It has played both to families and to nostalgic teenagers and Gen Zers who grew up watching the 2002 animated film of the same name about the friendship forged between a lonely Hawaiian girl and a troublesome, pet-like, blue alien. Like Aladdin or The Little Mermaid, it points to the limitless financial potential of tapping into such nostalgia.
Warners rebound has been anchored by Joseph Kosinski’s F1: The Movie. The big-budget Formula One movie finished Labor Day with more than $613 million in worldwide ticket sales, a sum no one thought possible considering its lead star is in his early 60s and this particular racing sport has never been all that popular in the U.
S. (that’s why no studio would shell out $200 million to $300 million to make the racing film; instead Apple Original Films made the pic, and brought on Warners as its distribution and marketing partner). On Aug. 27, FI broke its latest record when passing up Warner and DC Studios’ Superman, a feat few could have imagined.
It also is the top-grossing sports pic of all time, and the best of Pitt’s career, not adjusted for inflation. Abdy and De Luca also became heroes of the summer box office when originality paid off in a major way with the mid-August release of Zach Cregger’s Weapons. The film has became a cultural sensation, grossing north of $250 million to date against a $38 million budget.
(Naysayers were just as dismissive when Ryan Coogler’s original pic Sinners, another De Luca and Abdy project, opened in theaters in April. They were silenced when the pic topped out north of $455.7 million globally.) It’s true that Superman, which has earned $611 million to date worldwide, has given DC a much longed-for win over Marvel, but the Man of Steel can’t exactly gloat.
Superhero fatigue at the box office, a phenomenon which is now impacting the foreign box office in a major way, remains a major issue. Elsewhere, the ever-steady Universal remained in fine standing this summer between Jurassic World Rebirth and DreamWorks Animation’s live-action How to Train Your Dragon, which is the third top-grossing Hollywood title of the summer with a global cume of $629 million (it’s the first time DWA has borrowed from the Disney playbook and made a live-action adaptation of one of its library titles).
Paramount and Sony both had tough summers, albeit for different reasons. The former was in the midst of waiting for the Skydance merger to close as it released Tom Cruise’s latest Mission: Impossible movie, The Final Reckoning. Sony was left bereft in terms of having a summer tentpole to release because of delays related to the labor strikes, say insiders.
On Sept. 2, Comscore revised its summer revenue estimate after it finished tallying Labor Day numbers. For the period May 2-Sept. 1, domestic revenue came in at $3.672 billion, a decline of 0.10 percent from last year’s $3.672 billion. Comscore initially forecast a decline of 0.2 percent. Below is summer domestic, international and global revenue broken down by the five major legacy studios.
