After a poor opening to 2025, one may wonder why so many in the movie theater business repeated the mantra “Survive ’til ’25” if this was how a year without pandemic or strike-induced release delays was going to start— 12% behind the first quarter of 2024.
But for exhibitors, much of the optimism for 2025 was rooted in a summer slate that promises a much more consistent level of grosses from week to week and, if a couple of films overperform, could exceed the $4.03 billion domestic total earned in summer 2023, which was led by films like “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.