Even though there are still two weeks to go before Labor Day, the summer movie season has essentially ended, and it’s fair to say that Hollywood’s theatrical recovery, which was supposed to start in 2025, may have begun two and a half months ago. Barring a breakout from the long-gestating remake of The Crow this weekend, the domestic box office from May through August was (thus far) $3.34 billion, down 12 percent from 2023’s $3.77 billion but three percent  above 2022’s $3.23 billion. 

And if you dig deeper, as I’ve noted, the data is slightly rosier. Once June began with Sony’s $400 million worldwide-grossing Bad Boys sequel, the industry saw nearly three months of uninterrupted best-case-scenario performances. Franchise flicks either performed as well as hoped (A Quiet Place: Day One, Despicable Me 4, Alien: Romulus, Bad Boys: Ride or Die) or aggressively overperformed (Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and, at least in North America, Twisters).