Dave Green, the director whose once-shelved “Coyote vs. Acme” clawed its way back to release, has watched an industry rediscover its footing after years of gloom. Hollywood closed its strongest summer since 2013, with domestic ticket sales reaching $4.61 billion between May 1 and Aug. 31, according to Rentrak figures published September 4.
The total represents a 26.1% jump over the same stretch in 2025. Only the summer of 2013 outpaced it. Adjusted for inflation and higher ticket prices, the season looks less like a record and more like a recovery, since admissions still trail pre-pandemic levels. But the mood inside the business has shifted more than any single number suggests.
Familiar franchises did their part. Sony’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and a new “Toy Story” entry drew crowds, continuing a run that saw the web-slinger post the largest domestic opening on record. Yet studios and analysts credit the rebound as much to fresh faces and untested titles as to established intellectual property.
Low-budget projects punched far above their weight. The thriller “Obsession” turned a modest production budget into blockbuster receipts, part of a pattern in which filmmakers rather than brands pulled audiences into theaters. Even films written off as commercial failures found second lives once they reached the big screen.
Demographics tell a large part of the story. Gen-Z moviegoers returned in force, and women made up a growing share of ticket buyers across the season. That mix helped push attendance toward pre-pandemic rhythms after several years of muted turnout.
“We’re seeing audiences show up for things they really care about, and those might not be the same things we saw a summer or two summers ago,” Green said. “I’m really encouraged by the resilience of the movie business and that it can bounce back and morph and change all the time.”
The optimism arrives after a punishing stretch. Hollywood spent years absorbing the pandemic’s blow, wildfires near Los Angeles, prolonged labor disputes, corporate contraction and the disruption of generative AI. Structural questions have not disappeared, including Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and the still-unsettled role of AI in production.
For now, the theatrical model is running hard again. Studios will test whether the summer’s momentum carries into the autumn and holiday slates, when the next wave of tentpoles and awards contenders reaches screens.