After a weak Labor Day finish, the 2025 summer box office has been branded a ‘flop,’ leaving Hollywood reeling.
On Sunday, Weapons lead the way on a lackluster weekend at the box office ahead of the US Labor Day holiday.
The supernatural horror film about classroom of children being lured away in the night starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, remained at the top of the heap its fourth week in theaters earning only $10.2 million through Sunday.
It’s expected to make another $3 million or so as folks try to beat the heat on Monday.
The thriller opened at the beginning of the month with more the $43 million in ticket sales and has scared up more than $234 million worldwide so far.
Weapons’ low weekly numbers and the poor earnings of other offerings at the box office are indicative of what analysts say is a summer flop.
After a weak Labor Day finish, the 2025 summer box office has been branded a ‘flop. On Sunday, Weapons lead the way on a lackluster weekend earning only $10.2 million; Josh Brolin seen in a still from Weapons
Superheroes couldn’t save the day either. Marvel’s highly-anticipated films, Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, both underperformed, with the latter being a particularly costly flop.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps had a massive budget of $240 million and a $200 million marketing campaign, but only brought in $490 million at the global box office.
However, Superman — starring David Corenswet — often criticized as being ‘woke‘ has earned more than $611 million worldwide and kicked off the last good box office of the summer.
‘Since June 13, we’ve had just one up weekend, which was July 11-13 when Superman opened,’ Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian told The Hollywood Reporter.
‘And beginning July 18, the domestic box office has been down every weekend for six weekends in a row.’
Case in point, the number two film over the weekend was the 50th anniversary re-release of Jaws, which reeled in an estimated $8.1 million.
The Steven Spielberg directed horror film which is still keeping people out of the water since its 1975 release, earned another $1.7 million internationally.
Jaws ended up beating newcomers Caught Stealing and The Roses, which came in third and fifth respectively.
Final numbers from this weekend’s box office were expected on Monday.
In spite of the tepid end of summer earnings, the 2025 May through August numbers were on par with 2024.
Weapons’ low weekly numbers and the poor earnings of other offerings at the box office are indicative of what analysts say is a summer flop
Superman may be the box office hero of summer 2025. The film opened on July 11, and according to ComScore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, it was the only ‘up’ weekend for the summer
The 50th anniversary re-release of Jaws came in second, earning and estimated $8.1 million and beat two newcomers at the box office with A-list stars helming them
Jaws beat Caught Stealing, starring Austin Butler as a burned out former baseball player who turns to crime. The thriller debuted in third place with more than $7.8 million
The Roses, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as warring spouses rounded out the top five its debut weekend. The screwball comedy earned only $6.35 million it’s opening weekend, in spite of the A-list cast
The comedy The Naked Gun with Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson did relatively well, earning more than $95 million worldwide, but the summer box office was down from last year
Highly anticipated films such as The Fantastic Four and The Naked Gun contributed to a box office total of $3.76 billion during that time period.
Those earnings are only .02-percent less than the previous year’s $3.766 billion, according to ComScore, as reported by Deadline, but still fell short of the projected $4 billion summer ticket sales.
However, both the 2025 and 2024 summer numbers came in far below the $4.09 billion grossed in summer 2023, thanks in part to the massive appeal of Barbie.
The Margot Robbie vehicle written and directed by Greta Gerwig was a box office champ and has made $1,447,038,421 to date.
‘I’m very, very nervous for the future,’ a top studio executive told THR. ‘There are all these studios and companies making movies. I don’t think there is enough of an audience for them.’
The tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on foreign goods may be affecting the ability of consumers to purchase movie tickets. Consumer prices went up 2.7% in June compared to last year, according to Labor Department numbers released in July.
Figures vary by state, but the average cost of a movie ticket in the US is estimated at around $16.
Still, year-to-date, the 2025 box office is up by four-percent, according to Deadline.
So far 2025 box office earnings are up by 4% to date, and films such as Wicked: For Good, debuting in November are expected to add to that total
Other highly anticipated films leading up to the 2026 awards season include The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet
Several highly anticipated films scheduled for release over the next few months could increase the bottom line.
Wicked: For Good, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo was scheduled to open on November 21.
Wicked, which was released last November, has earned more than $756 million worldwide and the second part of the story is expected to do as well or better.
Other box office high anticipated box office offerings 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.
