It’s probably no secret to anyone who pays attention to movies even a little bit, particularly people who enjoy going to theaters to see movies, that it’s been a rough handful of years for the industry. The box office never fully recovered from the pandemic shutdown five years ago, with some highs along the way but far more lows to complicate matters. Fortunately, things have looked up lately, with “A Minecraft Movie” delivering a global smash. And here’s some more good news: This past weekend was, without a doubt, one of the most important and encouraging weekends at the box office in years.
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The last weekend of April 2025 saw Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” make more than $45 million in its second weekend, a record-low drop for a wide release horror movie. It has now become an unexpectedly huge, original smash hit. What’s special about it, looking beyond the number one movie on the charts, is that Coogler’s latest didn’t completely swallow up the rest of the competition. When “Minecraft” opened to $163 million, the number two movie, “A Working Man,” made just over $7 million. That was far from the case this past weekend.
For starters, “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” pulled in more than $25 million, delivering one of the best opening grosses ever for a theatrical re-release. Then we had “The Accountant 2” open to $24.4 million, essentially matching the original’s opening weekend from nine years ago. Meanwhile, “Minecraft” stayed strong, adding another $22.7 million in its fourth weekend, crossing the $800 million mark globally.
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All told, four movies made at least $20 million over the weekend. It’s only the second time in the pandemic era that has happened, joining the weekend of June 24, 2022 when “Elvis” ($31 million), “Top Gun: Maverick” ($29 million), “Jurassic World Dominion” ($26 million), and “The Black Phone” ($23 million) all did it.
This is a template Hollywood can (and should) use going forward
One big difference on that weekend in June of 2022 is that, first and foremost, it was in the midst of summer, which tends to be a more robust time for the box office in general. Secondly, only six movies made at least $1 million that weekend, with everything else on the charts settling for six figures. This most recent weekend? Everything in the top ten cleared $1 million, including “Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii” making $2.6 million on just 678 screens.
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Even Sony’s video game adaptation “Until Dawn,” which opened with $8 million at number five on the charts, can be counted as a modest success thanks to its thrifty $15 million budget. Overall, the bigger point is there was a little something for everyone on a non-summer weekend. That’s something we haven’t seen nearly enough of in recent years, with theaters largely left starving to death until the next “Inside Out 2” or “Barbie” comes along.
That’s not a sustainable business model for theaters. A sustainable model looks more like the weekend we’re looking at right now. Let guys like Coogler take gambles that have a chance at paying off. Make big blockbusters for Gen Z like “Minecraft.” Do more big re-releases like “Revenge of the Sith,” particularly since movies like “Interstellar” have also done big business in re-release in recent years. Offer something to different audiences at different budget levels, and don’t spread the release calendar so thin. Counter programming is your friend. People will show up when they are catered to.
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A mixed slate week to week is essential for the health of the box office
If this weekend demonstrated anything, it’s that more movies of varying sizes are needed in the marketplace. Not everything is going to work, but placing too much weight on $200 million blockbusters is a dangerous game. When something like “Snow White” tanks, theaters wind up in trouble and studios are left holding the bag. A varied slate appears to be the key to more sustainable, long-term success.
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As we head into a summer movie season with lots of big movies and lots of big gambles on the slate, this feels even more imperative for Hollywood at large to consider. 2025 is set in stone, but 2026 and beyond can still be ironed out. Spread out the release calendar in a more strategic way. Get more mid-budget stuff on screens. Absolutely consider scheduling some more re-releases timed to relevant anniversaries. Put more movies in theaters. It’s the only way to generate more cinematic events that people care about. Volume has to be a bigger part of the equation.
The box office remains on uncertain ground and theater owners are still searching for a viable path forward. In some cases, that involves theaters adding attractions such as bowling and even axe throwing. That’s all well and good, but even those added elements work better when there is a more regular flow of moviegoers as opposed to one big burst of people and then tumbleweeds for weeks on end.
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There are going to be bigger weekends at the movies in 2025, but it’s hard to imagine one that more perfectly encapsulates what is still possible. This is what a healthy theatrical marketplace of the future can look like.
We spoke a lot more about the weekend’s box office numbers, as well as some recent movie news items, on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast:
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