Summer entertainment industry facing disappointment as 2025 Labor Day weekend receipts marked underwhelming, deeming the season's box office a failure

The summer movie season of 2025 has come to a close, and it's time to take a look at how the box office performed. According to Deadline, the year-to-date box office is up by 4%, but the summer season itself has been branded a 'flop'.

One of the standout successes of the season was "Jurassic World: Die Wiedergeburt" (Jurassic World: Dominion), which exceeded the poor summer box office sales and marked the last good cinema result of the summer. The film raked in a massive $1.5 billion worldwide.

Another film that performed well was the supernatural horror flick "Weapons", starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner. The movie has earned over $234 million worldwide and is expected to make another $3 million on Monday.

The Steven Spielberg directed horror classic, Jaws, celebrated its 50th anniversary with a re-release, and it came in second at the box office, earning an estimated $8.1 million. Jaws also earned another $1.7 million internationally.

In the world of superheroes, Marvel's Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four: First Steps both underperformed over the summer. The latter was a particularly costly flop, with a budget of $240 million and a $200 million marketing campaign. The Fantastic Four: First Steps made a total of $490 million worldwide.

Other highly anticipated films leading up to the 2026 awards season include The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Kiss of The Spider Woman with Jennifer Lopez, Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet, and Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another.

Meanwhile, Wicked, which was released last November, has earned more than $756 million worldwide and the second part of the story, Wicked: For Good, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, is scheduled to open on November 21.

The Margot Robbie vehicle Barbie, written and directed by Greta Gerwig, has also been a box office success, making $1,447,038,421 to date.

In the comedy department, The Naked Gun with Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson earned more than $95 million worldwide, but the summer box office was down from last year. The comedy did, however, provide a much-needed boost to the season's total box office, contributing to a total of $3.76 billion during that time period.

The average cost of a movie ticket in the US is estimated at around $16, but consumer prices going up 2.7% in June compared to last year could potentially impact the ability of consumers to purchase movie tickets.

The Roses, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, debuted in fifth place, earning only $6.35 million in its opening weekend.

Looking ahead, Superman - starring David Corenswet - is set to hit theatres soon and is expected to be another box office contender.

Summer entertainment industry facing disappointment as 2025 Labor Day weekend receipts marked underwhelming, deeming the season's box office a failure