The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day drive record US summer box office

US cinemas posted a record summer season of $4.761bn from 1 May–7 September, surpassing the 2013 total of $4.756bn.

Two summer releases are credited as principal drivers: Spider-Man: Brand New Day, with about $2.4bn in global box office, and The Odyssey, with $1.6bn. Spider-Man is the year’s top performer so far, had the second-largest opening weekend on record, and reached $1bn in six days — the second-fastest pace reported.

Other releases that passed $1bn include Toy Story 5, Michael and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Lower-budget original horror films also contributed: Backrooms earned $394m and Obsession $513m.

Some sequels and spinoffs underperformed relative to expectations: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu ($345.4m), Supergirl ($126.4m) and Minions & Monsters ($518.1m), the last collecting roughly half of 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru.

UK cinema admissions in August rose 56% year-on-year to over 17 million, marking the best August since 2018 and the second-best month since July 2023. The Europe, Middle East and Africa region saw an 88% year-on-year increase, according to Gower Street and the International Union of Cinemas.

National details include 19.9 million French admissions in August — the strongest August on record in 46 years and a 50% increase from 2025; Italy recorded its best-ever June–August with 20.8 million admissions and €162.3m in box office; Spain posted a 71% rise and the Netherlands 77%.