It’s been a triumphant year for movie theater owners, who are basking in the long-awaited box office rebound. Domestic ticket sales are already 20% above the same point in 2025, and that’s before a “Hunger Games” prequel, a third “Dune” and another “Avengers” installment hit the big screen.
With revenues at $8.76 billion through Nov. 15, according to Rentrak, the industry is poised to exceed $10 billion in North America for the first time since the pandemic upended the theatrical business. Prior to COVID, yearly ticket sales were regularly nearing or surpassing the $11 million mark. In the past half-decade, though, revenues have stalled below $9 billion, with receipts tapping out at $8.87 billion in 2025 and $8.7 billion in 2024 and $8.91 billion in 2023. This year, returns eclipsed $8 billion by October, a milestone the industry didn’t reach until December last year.
Despite the popularity of premium large formats like Imax, which have higher prices, attendance has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. North American revenues remain 9% behind 2019, the last “normal” period at the box office.
“While we’re still working to close the gap with the pre-pandemic marketplace, we’re now less than 10% behind 2019 at the same point on the calendar,” says Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian. “That’s pretty significant, particularly given how much the theatrical marketplace has changed over the past seven years.”
Holiday offerings like Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” which is expected to debut above $100 million prior to Thanksgiving, as well as a pair of Christmas tentpoles in Warner Bros. sequel “Dune Part Three” and Disney’s Marvel epic “Avengers: Doomsday,” should help to shrink the deficit. Other potential hits on the calendar include Universal’s starry comedy “Focker in Law” and Sony’s action threequel “Jumanji: Open World.”
“With ‘Hunger Games,’ along with the Thanksgiving corridor and a very important December still ahead, there’s a real opportunity to continue building on that momentum,” Dergarabedian adds.
This year has been defined by unexpected triumphs, including Amazon MGM’s space epic “Project Hail Mary,” Lionsgate’s musical biopic “Michael,” A24’s psychological thriller “Backrooms” and the Focus Features horror film “Obsession.” Meanwhile, the anticipated blockbusters like Christopher Nolan’s Homer adaptation “The Odyssey” and Sony’s Marvel adventure “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” far exceeded projections, with $1.8 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively. After a record-breaking summer, the fall was comparatively light. However, the season has managed to field some unlikely winners, most notably A24’s electric Elizabeth Holmes documentary “You Can See Everything” with $89 million domestically to date. Those victories have offset the misses, including Tom Cruise’s satire “Digger,” Disney’s live-action “Moana” and Amazon MGM’s toy-inspired “Masters of the Universe.”
“It’s the movies and the marketing that matter more than anything to general audiences,” Dergarabedian says. “And this year has demonstrated what can happen when audiences have an eclectic mix of films to see on the big screen.”