Film-Summer Box Office Comeback

Hollywood has just wrapped up its best summer in a decade and its biggest vibe shift since the pandemic. After years of new-normal ticket sales and regular spells of unease, the summer box office rallied to $4.61 billion in domestic ticket sales between May 1 and Aug. 31, according to Rentrak. That’s not just miles ahead of last year but better than every summer other than 2013. Accounting for inflation, it’s less of a record season. But any way you slice it, summer 2026 was the summer Hollywood got its mojo back.