For the second weekend in a row, the Warner Bros. and DC Studios relaunch of SUPERMAN won the weekend, bringing in $57.3M. The total for all films this weekend came in at $132.3M, supported by the continued strong performance of JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH and a trio of new movies opening this weekend, including Sony’s I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, Paramount’s The SMURFS, and A24’s EDDINGTON. Last year on this same weekend, Universal’s TWISTERS opened to a strong $81.1M and all films together earned $149.5M.
Exhibitors are also getting excited about the potential for an excellent opening next weekend for Disney and Marvel’s THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, which may be the last true blockbuster of the summer. Unfortunately, it will be impossible to top last year’s $211.4M opening of DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, which became the top R-rated movie of all time with $636.7M in domestic box office. If FANTASTIC FOUR comes anywhere near DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, it will go a long way towards helping 2025 stay ahead of 2024.
After 10 days, this year’s SUPERMAN has sold $235.0M domestic and $406.8M worldwide. SUPERMAN started off $41M lower in its opening weekend than the 2016 BATMAN V SUPERMAN, but has made up some of that ground by earning $6.0M more in its second weekend than the earlier film did.
The 2025 movie now stands at 90% of the box office earnings of the 2016 movie, after starting with only 75% of its total after the opening weekend. Warner Bros. and DC must certainly be pleased with the results for this very important movie, which has a chance to set the all-time box office record for a SUPERMAN movie.
Of course, the 1978 original was quite a success in its time, earning $300.5M 47 years ago, which translates to an inflation-adjusted box office of $1.480B in today’s dollars.
SUPERMAN (2025), BATMAN V. SUPERMAN (2016), and SUPERMAN (1978)
- SUPERMAN (7/11/2025) – Domestic Opening $125M (4,135 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $57.3M (-54%), Domestic 10-Day $235.0M, Budget $225M, RT Critics/Audience 83%/92%
- BATMAN V. SUPERMAN (3/25/2016) – Domestic Opening $166.0MM (4,256 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $51.3M (-69%), Domestic 10-Day $260.4M, Domestic Total $330.4M, Worldwide Total $874.4M, Budget $250M, RT Critics/Audience 28%/63%
- SUPERMAN (12/15/1978) – Domestic Opening $7.5M/$37.0M* (508 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $6.5M/$32.2M* (-13%), Domestic 10-Day $18.6M/$92.0M*, Domestic Total $134.5M/$661.7M*, Worldwide Total $300.5M/$1.480B*, Budget $55M/$271.2M*, RT Critics/Audience 87%/86%
*Adjusted for inflation
Universal’s JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH finished in second place for the second consecutive weekend, selling $23.4M and dropping 42% from last weekend. This brings its 17-day totals to $276.2M domestic and $648.0M worldwide.
While that’s not terrible, of course, this version of JURASSIC WORLD is on track to wind up as the lowest-grossing title in the four-movie series, with each successive release earning less than its predecessor. Thankfully, all JURASSIC WORLD movies have been profitable, and REBIRTH will earn millions more in the weeks ahead.
JURASSIC WORLD Movie Series
- JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH (7/2/2025) – Domestic Opening $91.5M (4,308 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $40.0M (-57%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $23.4M (-42%), Domestic 19-day $276.21M, Budget $180M, RT Critics/Audience 51%/71%
- JURASSIC WORLD (6/12/2015) – Domestic Opening $208.8M (4,274 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $106.6M (-49%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $54.5M (-49%), Domestic 17-day $500.4M, Domestic Total $652.3M, Worldwide Total $1.670B, Budget $150M, RT Critics/Audience 72%/78%
- JURRASIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (6/22/2018) – Domestic Opening $148.0M (4,475 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $60.9M (-59%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $28.6M (-43%), Domestic 17-day $333.4M, Domestic Total $417.7M, Worldwide Total $1.308B, Budget $170M, RT Critics/Audience 47%/48%
- JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION (6/22/2022) – Domestic Opening $145.1M (4,676 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $59.2M (-59%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $26.7M (-55%), Domestic 17-day $303.1M, Domestic Total $377.9M, Worldwide Total $1.002B, Budget $185M, RT Critics/Audience 29%/77%
Sony’s slasher sequel I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER finished in third place by earning $13.0M in its opening weekend domestic and $24.1M worldwide. This is the fourth movie in the series, which began with the original I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER in 1997.
That was a surprising success, bringing in $72.6M in domestic ticket sales, which projects out to $145.9M in 2025 dollars. At the time, its plot was seen as an original take, following a group of five friends who are torn apart by a tragic accident and swear to each other that they will never reveal what happened. One year later, they are stalked by a hook-wielding revenge-seeking killer. Since then, quite a few copycat movies have replayed this basic plot with slight variations.
The 1997 cast featured Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Anne Heche, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr., who all went on to successful careers. In an attempt to cash in on the success of the original, Sony followed up quickly with the easily forgotten I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER in 1998, which only earned $40.0M domestic and received no international distribution.
That film cost $65M to make, which was 3 ½ times greater than the original’s budget and resulted in a sizeable loss for the studio. One more attempt was made in 2006 with I WILL ALWAYS KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, which went straight to video. That led to an almost two-decades-long hiatus, and Sony finally agreed last year to go forward with this new film.
The movie is directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, best known for her 2022 film THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. She brought in the film on a very conservative budget of $18M. As with many horror films, the cast is headed by a group of relative unknowns, with supporting appearances by Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. in their original roles of Julie James and Ray Bronson. Once again, the plot of this film focuses on a group of friends who are terrorized by a stalker who knows about a gruesome incident from their past.
Critics are giving the new film a 38% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is in the same ballpark as their take on the original movie, which received only 46%. The Film Verdict said it is “A predictable and vibe-less summer horror film that will convince you to spend more time outside in the sun rather than watching something so smug, manufactured, and self-satisfied.”
The Wrap opines that “The new ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ strains credulity until credulity breaks open and spills fake blood and candy everywhere.” Vulture was similarly caustic, saying “Not scary enough to thrill, funny enough to charm, or clever enough to convince… It’s actively irritating.” To be fair, not everybody hated the film. Variety said, “What’s different this time is that with the slasher stuff staged in a restrained way, the movie plays as even more of a whodunit.
Since Sony spent only $18M to make the movie, it will reach profitability after earning $45M in worldwide gross, which it should easily achieve. If the studio is determined to bring out another chapter, we advise them to wait more than one year before bringing it out. Here is how this year’s version compares to the original.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER – 2025 vs 1997
- I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (7/18/2025) – Domestic Opening $13.0M (3,206 locations), Budget $18M, RT Critics/Audience 38%/68%
- I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (10/17/1997) – Domestic Opening $15.8M/$31.8M* (2,324 locations), Domestic Total $72.6M/145.9M*, Worldwide Total $125.6M/$252.4M*, Budget $17M/$34.1M, RT Critics/Audience 46%/41%
Paramount’s SMURFS, the sequel to the iconic family film franchise featuring the blue characters, finished in a disappointing fourth place this weekend with $11.0M domestic and $33.6M worldwide. The Smurfs were born in 1958 from the fertile imagination of Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, better known by his pen name “Peyo.”
Distinguished by their cobalt-blue skin, white clothing, and nearly identical features, the Smurfs live in a hidden village of mushroom-shaped houses, led by the wise Papa Smurf. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Peyo and his studio expanded the Smurf universe by producing dozens of comic albums, each centered on whimsical conflicts with the sorcerer Gargamel and his cat Azrael, comedic misadventures, or quests that underscore solidarity.
In 1981, Hanna-Barbera Productions brought the Smurfs to international prominence with an animated television series that aired on NBC. Running for nine seasons, the show introduced characters like Smurfette, Brainy, and Hefty to millions of viewers worldwide. Its “La La” theme song became instantly recognizable, and themed merchandise took off, including toys, lunchboxes, clothing, and video games. As a result, the Smurfs turned into one of the world’s most lucrative licensing properties from the 1980s.
In the late 2000s, Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks turned the beloved blue characters into feature film stars. Recognizing the brand’s global appeal and multigenerational fan base, Sony acquired the film rights from Belgian company IMPS, the family-run business that oversees the Smurfs’ intellectual property created by Peyo.
Production on the first Smurfs movie began under Sony Pictures Animation, with Raja Gosnell directing, best known at that point for his work on Scooby-Doo. Released in 2011, The Smurfs was a hybrid of live-action performance and CGI, featuring the voice talents of Katy Perry (Smurfette) and Jonathan Winters (Papa Smurf), alongside Neil Patrick Harris as a human actor. Despite mixed critics’ reviews, that film was a commercial hit with more than $560 million in worldwide gross. Of course, this prompted Sony to move on with a sequel.
THE SMURFS 2 arrived in 2013, once again blending live-action with animation. It introduced the new “Naughties” characters, and explored Smurfette’s origins. Though successful financially, it was panned by virtually all critics, who gave it a brutal 14% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
At that point, plans to make a third live-action sequel were scrapped. Instead, Sony pivoted to a fully animated movie that would follow Peyo’s original designs more faithfully. In 2017, SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE was released, directed by Kelly Asbury. Featuring a new cast of voice actors, including Demi Lovato as Smurfette and Rainn Wilson as Gargamel, this edition was praised for its colorful animation and story.
However, its box office returns were modest compared to its predecessors. Over the three films, the franchise had come down from a true blockbuster earning $563.9M in global sales to a much more modest $152.2M worldwide from the third movie, which is only 27% of the original’s take. It was unclear whether the franchise could continue.
In February 2022, the rights holders IMPS (now Peyo Company) and LAFIG Belgium struck a partnership with Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies to reboot the Smurfs franchise with a fully animated musical feature. Pam Brady (SOUTH PARK, TEAM AMERICA) was brought on to write the screenplay, and by June 2022, Chris Miller (SHREK THE THIRD, PUSS IN BOOTS) was tapped as director, with Matt Landon joining later as co‑director.
In April 2023, it was revealed that superstar Rihanna would be voicing Smurfette, producing the film, and contributing original songs to the soundtrack. The story follows Smurfette (Rihanna) and a new character, “No Name Smurf” (James Corden), as they cross through multiverse-style portals and travel to Paris to rescue Papa Smurf (John Goodman) from evil wizards Razamel and Gargamel.
The film blends CGI with stylized 2D animation, embraces musical fantasy, and features a large ensemble voice cast including Sandra Oh, Daniel Levy, Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Kurt Russell, Natasha Lyonne, Maya Erskine, Amy Sedaris, and Jimmy Kimmel.
The critics have never liked the series, and despite its ambitious design and star-studded cast, this year’s SMURFS has received overwhelmingly negative reviews. Scoring a dismal 21% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Vulture said, “No one involved in the movie has any idea what they’re doing,” calling it a muddled attempt to modernize the IP via a real-world/joke-laden mashup, with Rihanna’s musical numbers being among the few confident choices.
The Guardian says, ‘Rihanna’s voice as Smurfette is called out as uninspired, with minimal humor, unengaging storyline, and formulaic approach, failing to energize even its young audience’. Polygon weighed in that the film is a disjointed “randomized free‑association” of children’s film tropes—garbage in narrative form, “blandly drawn, stiffly animated, inconsistent.” When we can, we try to balance the negativity by offering up a positive review, but we could not find one for this film. Here is how the SMURFS 2025 compares to the earlier films of the franchise.
SMURFS Movie Series
- SMURFS (7/18/2025) – Domestic Opening $11.0M (3,504 locations), Budget $58M, RT Critics/Audience 20%/66%
- THE SMURFS (7/29/2011) – Domestic Opening $35.6M (3,395 locations), Domestic Total $142.6M, Worldwide Total $563.9M, Budget $110M, RT Critics/Audience 21%/43%
- THE SMURFS 2 (7/31/2013) – Domestic Opening $17.5M (3,866 locations), Domestic Total $71.0M, Worldwide Total $347.5M, Budget $105M, RT Critics/Audience 14%/56%
- SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE (4/17/2017) – Domestic Opening $13.2M (3,610 locations), Domestic Total $45.0M, Worldwide Total $152.2M, Budget $60M, RT Critics/Audience 41%/54%
F1: THE MOVIE from Warner Bros. and Apple Original Films finished in fifth place by taking in $9.6M and dropping 26%. This brings F1’s 24-day total to $153.6M domestic and $460.8M worldwide. On the one hand, the action movie starring Brad Pitt is the top-grossing road racing film of all time, and the highest-earning among all Apple Original Films.
On the other hand, it was expensive to make and still has a way to go before reaching profitability at its box office. With a production budget of $200M, it would need to earn $500M worldwide to break even, and after this weekend is still $39.2M short of that amount. Regardless, the substantial gross to date has gone a long way towards defraying the cost of making the movie, and Apple execs are pleased with their decision to bring it to theatres before it becomes available online.
Exhibitors are hoping Apple feels encouraged with these results and will continue to introduce their best movies in theatres. Amazon/MGM have also stated their intention to release their upcoming slate of big movies in theatres before they become available on Prime Video.
With two of its streaming competitors choosing a theatrical-first release strategy, one can hope that Netflix follows suit eventually. Until this point, Netflix has launched most of its original films on its streaming platform only, without involving theatres. A handful of Netflix movies have started with limited theatrical releases, and usually this comes at the insistence of a marquee director or actor.
These limited theatrical runs have also helped Netflix qualify these movies for awards consideration. Netflix co‑CEO Ted Sarandos has characterized traditional theatrical releases as “outmoded” or “inefficient.” However, new exceptions to Netflix’s hardline stance may be emerging.
Their adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia from award-winning director Greta Gerwig is slated for an initial release at IMAX locations only during Thanksgiving 2026, with that exclusive run lasting for two weeks before availability on streaming.
If this goes forward, it will be Netflix’s largest and most prominent theatrical release. Many of the exhibitors with IMAX screens are unsure whether they will agree to participate in this limited release, which comes with a much shorter exclusive period for theatres than the 31 or 45 days normally required.
Here is a look at the success of F1: THE MOVIE compared to the next highest-grossing racing movie, FORD V FERRARI.
F1: THE MOVIE vs. FORD V FERRARI
- F1: THE MOVIE (6/27/2025) – Domestic Opening $55.6M (3,661 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $26.1M (-54%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $13.5M (-50%), Domestic 4th Weekend $9.6M (-26%), Domestic 24-Day $153.6M, Budget $200M, RT Critics/Audience 83%/97%
- FORD V FERRARI (11/15/2019) – Domestic Opening $31.5M (3,528 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $15.7M (-50%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $13.2M (-16%), Domestic 4th Weekend $6.7M (-50%), Domestic 24-Day $91.2M, Domestic Total $117.6M, Worldwide Total $226.2M, Budget $98M, RT Critics/Audience 92%/98%
Where Are We as of July 17th
After 28 weeks, the domestic box office in 2025 stands at 116% compared to the same point in 2024 and 76% compared to 2019.
