The Jambar
For years since the COVID-19 pandemic, many people lost the art of going to movie theaters, as they opted to stay home and watch movies on streaming services. As summer comes to an end, the box office numbers suggest people are falling in love with cinema again.
According to Rentrak, domestic ticket sales from May 1 to Sept. 7 stood at $4.76 billion — the highest-grossing season of all time.
The previous record was held in 2013, when the release of films such as “Iron Man 3,” “Despicable Me 2” and “Man of Steel” led the box office to make $4.75 billion, according to an article from CNBC.
These numbers pose the question, “What films made this summer so great?” Looking at the season as a whole, this summer offered a large number of back-to-back hits that contributed to the box office’s success.
According to CNBC, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” contributed to more than 30% of the box office’s earnings, with over $1.5 billion.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is the fourth movie in actor Tom Holland’s Spider-Man series and was long anticipated by fans, as it was released nearly five years after the third film, “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
According to an article from NBC News, the fourth film held the number one spot at the box office for six weeks.
Director Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” drew in audiences with the retelling of an ancient Greek epic poem and being the first narrative feature film shot entirely on IMAX 70 mm film cameras.
Tickets for the film were selling fast at theaters across the country, especially at the only 25 theaters in the U.S. that could project “The Odyssey” on a 70 mm screen as Nolan intended.
According to a New York Post article, ticket scalpers bought tickets to “The Odyssey” and attempted to resell them for hundreds of dollars a ticket.
While these two films were a big contributor to the box office success, they weren’t the only reason people came back to theaters.
The Walt Disney Co. released multiple sequels and retellings of fan-favorite stories with “The Devil Wears Prada 2” released in May, “Toy Story 5” released in June and the live-action version of “Moana” released in July.
The horror genre also picked up with “Obsession” and “Backrooms” both released in May.
According to an article from BBC, both of these films were low budget and created by young directors. Curry Barker, director of “Obsession,” is 26 years old, and Kane Parsons, director of “Backrooms,” is 21 years old. “Backrooms” was Parsons’ directing debut.
Per Box Office Mojo, the two films combined made nearly $500 million at the domestic box office.
Though the summer box office season has come to an end, theaters still have movies to entice and excite fans this fall and winter.
Just in time for the fall season, “Practical Magic 2,” the sequel to the original witchy movie from 1998, just debuted in theaters Sept. 10.
The year will end in December with “Dune: Part Three” and “Avengers: Doomsday” on Dec. 18, and “Jumaji: Open World” on Dec. 25.
With many highly anticipated movies still to come, the box office success this year will continue, and cinema seats will stay full.