Hollywood Summer Box Office Hits $4.76 Billion as 248 Million Fewer Tickets Sell Than 2019
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 7
Hollywood Summer Box Office Hits $4.76 Billion as 248 Million Fewer Tickets Sell Than 2019
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 7
Summary
$4.76 billion in domestic summer ticket sales made 2026 Hollywood’s second-biggest summer by raw revenue, but theaters sold 568.4 million tickets through Aug. 16 — 30% below 2019.
Adjusted for inflation, the comparison weakens sharply: this summer’s haul was up 26% from last year but still 17% below the inflation-adjusted $5.7 billion collected in summer 2019.
Higher prices helped mask the attendance gap, with premium formats driving more spending; IMAX tickets average about $20 versus $12.75 standard, and IMAX captured $207 million from “The Odyssey” alone.
A fuller release slate also lifted results, with more than 40 films opening on 2,000-plus screens, while five original movies topped $100 million and combined for about $1.4 billion.
Franchises still dominated the season — “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “Toy Story 5” generated $1.38 billion together — even as “Minions & Monsters” and “The Mandalorian and Grogu” underperformed earlier entries.