Summer box office 2026: what can we learn from the hits and misses?

It was a bumper season for Hollywood, almost back to pre-pandemic levels, with Tom Holland blockbusters winning out, but there was still a string of disappointments As the world continued to burn and temperatures reached worrying highs, most of us decided to take refuge in the cinema this summer.

It provided some relief for audiences, but even more so for the industry at large, with the season pushing past the magic $4bn mark to become the biggest since 2019, up 20% from last year.

There were the expected hits (Spider-Man never misses), but there were also unprecedented breakouts (we were obsessed with Obsession) and surprise underperformers (are kids Minions-ed out?) So at the end of a season with epic highs and cavernous lows, what lessons can Hollywood learn? Continue reading...