The summer box office is off to a strong start, but it’s only just beginning.
Domestic ticket sales for the weekend exceeded $161 million, an improvement of nearly 88% over the same three-day slot in 2025. disney 20th Century Studios’ The Devil Wears Prada 2 added $41.6 million in its second week to lead the way; warner brosMortal Kombat II opened with $38.5 million. Lionsgate’s “Michael” brought in an additional $37.9 million in its third week in theaters.
The weekend was powered by new releases including: Amazon MGM “Sheep Detectives” Paramount’s “Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour” and Remnants from universal “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” in the 6th week and Amazon’s “Project Hail Mary” in the 8th week.
They had a great weekend at the movies together as the industry chases $10 billion in annual U.S. box office revenue.
“The second weekend in May often sees solid returns from new entrants filling the gap between the first weekend of summer and the important Memorial Weekend, which is about two weeks away,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at comScore. “However, the impressive long-term playability of Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Project Hail Mary is a reminder that holdover strength is critical to the overall health of the industry.”
Seven of the weekend’s top 10 won titles. Five of those films reported ticket sales were down less than 50% from the previous weekend, according to ComScore data.
For box office analysts, this is an important metric. Movies typically drop 50% to 70% each weekend. If you see a small decline in ticket sales each week, it means the movie is generating a lot of buzz through word of mouth and new moviegoers are buying tickets, or audiences are coming back to see the movie again.
Ticket sales for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in its second week were down 46%, “Michael” was down just 30% in its second and third weeks of release, and “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” was down 45% between its fifth and sixth weekends. The most impressive was “Project Hail Mary,” which fell just 23% in its eighth week. Ticket sales for Neon’s “Hokum” fell 49% in its second week.
These trends bode well for the domestic box office. Through Sunday, the 2026 calendar had generated $3.02 billion, a 16% increase from the same period last year, according to ComScore data.
“In the big picture, it’s fair to suggest that escapism and accessibility may be important factors,” said Sean Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “Historically, ticket prices have increased over time, but going to the movies remains an affordable outdoor entertainment option for individuals, couples, and families whose spring break or summer vacation plans may be in flux due to other economic uncertainties and hardships.”
Ticket sales remain below 2019 levels, the last real benchmark before the pandemic disrupted moviegoing. At this point in 2019, it had secured $3.8 billion in domestic box office revenue. But more than $720 million of that came from the record-breaking release of Disney and Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame.
The summer movie season, which runs from the first weekend in May to Labor Day in September, is also about to be energized by some blockbusters.
Disney’s first new Star Wars movie in seven years will be released in late May along with “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” will be released in June, along with Warner Bros.’ “Supergirl.” And in July, Disney will release the live-action version of “Moana,” while Universal will release Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and Sony’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
“As always, there will be natural ups and downs in the annual box office story,” Robbins said. “Momentum is as good as the latest hits and duds, but the bottom line for now is that the industry is enjoying a huge success and something close to a realistic best-case scenario before the heart of the highly anticipated summer movie season really arrives.”
Disclosure: CNBC and Fandango are divisions of Versant Media.
