Here’s how the summer box office blew up and Hollywood got its mojo back

NEW YORK — 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 (a 26.1% increase from 2025), but better than every summer other than 2013. Accounting for inflation and higher ticket prices, it’s less of a record season. Admissions are still way down from pre-pandemic levels. But 2026 was still the summer Hollywood got its mojo back.

While that is partly thanks to some usual suspects — Spider-Man, “Toy Story” and others — much of what’s driven the resurgence has been refreshingly new. Gen-Z audiences have filled theaters. Low-budget films such as “Obsession” have turned into blockbusters. But it’s been filmmakers, even more than intellectual property, that have lured moviegoers. Even once-dead movies have come back to life.

“We’re seeing audiences show up for things they really care about, and those might not be the same things we saw a summer or two summers ago,” says Dave Green, director of…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business