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It Was One Box Office Battle After Another in 2025

With Hollywood’s annual output back to resembling its pre-pandemic levels, some clear trends emerged: Kids showed up, horror hit more often than it didn’t, and the superhero slump is real. How might it all apply to 2026 and beyond?

a minecraft movie
Warner Bros.’ A Minecraft Movie, an adaptation of a barely decade-old video game property, grossed $424 million—making it potentially the year’s top-grossing domestic film, and possibly Hollywood’s first sky-high-earning, new-to-cinema, live action franchise since The Hunger Games in 2012. Photo: Courtesy of Minecraft
Scott Mendelson
January 7, 2026

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Hollywood almost got there in 2025. The annual domestic box office total of $8.65 billion was just one $350 million grosser shy of the hoped-for $9 billion. Alas, despite the fact that younger audiences actually want to go to the movies these days, the problems ailing the theatrical industry haven’t vanished.