Two major milestones were reached over the weekend of 23 August, as Warner Bros/DC’s Superman and Apple Original Films’ F1 both crossed US$600 million worldwide.
As reported by Deadline, Superman stood at US$604.5 million as of 24 August, with the bulk of the earnings coming from domestic markets. Meanwhile, the film performed slightly weaker in the international market, garnering US$257.5 million and representing a mere 42.6 per cent of the total.
F1 has shown a very different pattern, with global grosses at US$603.4 million so far. The Joseph Kosinski-directed racing drama is heavily powered by international markets, which account for US$417.5 million, or 69 per cent of the total. The ninth weekend saw an additional US$6.1 million, marking a career high for Brad Pitt as his top-grossing film globally.
Despite these achievements, the summer box office as a whole will fall short of the coveted US$4 billion domestic benchmark, according to additional reports by Variety. Between 1 May and 24 August, revenues reached US$3.53 billion, according to Comscore. That figure marks a slight gain over 2024’s US$3.52 billion and 2022’s US$3.41 billion, but still remains well below the pre-pandemic high of US$4.38 billion set in 2019. Since the COVID lockdowns, only the 2023 “Barbenheimer” phenomenon pushed domestic summer sales above US$4 billion.
The biggest hit of the season was Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, which earned US$421 million domestically and US$1.03 billion globally. Other highlights included Jurassic World Rebirth, which netted US$844 million and How to Train Your Dragon, grossing US$626 million, adding to the achievements of F1 and Superman. These are joined by underperforming tentpoles such as Thunderbolts at US$382 million, The Fantastic Four: First Steps at US$471 million, Pixar’s Elio at US$150 million, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which garnered only US$597 million on a massive US$400 million budget.
“On paper, 2025 boasted one of the strongest slates of summer movies ever,” said senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian in a statement to Variety. “What was not considered was that the summer movie ecosystem is very fragile; there is no margin for error. August this year is when things really slowed down.” With only one title hitting the billion-dollar mark, industry analysts suggest Hollywood still needs to refine how to reignite global audiences.
Conversation with Ting Wei is like chatting with a weird AI bot programmed only with One Piece lore and theories, sitcom quotes and other miscellaneous pop culture references. When he’s not sleeping, he’s highly likely reading manga. In fact, the only thing he reads more than manga is the Bible, and it’s honestly pretty close.
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