North American movie theaters brought in $4.76 billion over the summer of 2026, breaking the previous all-time record of $4.755 billion set in 2013, Variety reports, citing data from analytics firm Rentrak. The record had stood for more than a decade.
US box-office tracking defines the “summer” season not as three calendar months but as the stretch from May 1 through the first Monday of September, Labor Day. In 2026 that covered May through August — 130 days, versus 123 in 2013. The comparison isn’t perfectly clean either way, since 2013’s total wasn’t adjusted for inflation.
Cautions aside, the industry is treating the record as a genuine milestone. It signals that audiences have fully returned to theaters after several sluggish years. Every one of the season’s four months topped $1 billion for the first time ever, with August leading at $1.27 billion. Rentrak’s head of market trends, Paul Dergarabedian, called the summer a turning point for the business.
The numbers are only part of the story, he said: for many people, this summer reminded them how fun moviegoing can be, potentially raising a new generation of filmgoers. Back in January, actor Leonardo DiCaprio predicted streaming would push theaters toward decline. This summer’s numbers argue otherwise, at least for now.
Follow Mediasat on Google News: the latest in TV, telecom and tech
The record was driven largely by two films: Sony and Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” for Universal. The former grossed $923 million domestically and $2.4 billion worldwide; the latter took in $589 million in North America and $1.62 billion globally. Sequels “Toy Story 5” and “The Devil Wears Prada 2” added to the momentum.
Those hits offset several high-profile flops, including Disney’s live-action “Moana” remake, Warner Bros./DC’s “Supergirl,” and Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe.”
The long Labor Day weekend brought an unlikely win for “Coyote vs. Acme,” which pulled in $15.8 million. Warner Bros. had shelved the finished film entirely for a tax write-off; after fan backlash, the filmmakers bought back the rights and sold it to distributor Ketchup Entertainment.
New releases that same weekend fared far worse. Thriller “By Any Means,” starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Wahlberg, grossed just $9.3 million on a $30 million budget. Sequel “Beneath the Deep 2” and Adam Wingard’s sci-fi thriller “The Perfect Weapon” both missed the top ten entirely.
