Weekend ticket sales top $160 million
The summer box office is off to a spectacular start and it’s just getting started.
Domestic ticket sales for the weekend topped $161 million, up nearly 88% from the same three-day frame in 2025. Disney and 20th Century Studio’s “The Devil Wears Prada 2” topped the list, earning $41.6 million in its second week. Warner Bros.“Mortal Kombat II” grossed $38.5 million in its opening. Lionsgate’s “Michael” earned another $37.9 million in its third week in theaters.
The weekend was supported by new releases such as: Amazon MGMs “Sheep Detectives” and Paramount’s “Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour” as well as Universal’s “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is in its sixth week and Amazon’s “Project Hail Mary” is in its eighth week.
They had a remarkable weekend at the movies together as the industry chases $10 billion in annual box office revenue in the US.
“The second weekend in May typically produces solid returns from newcomers who bridge the gap between the summer’s opening weekend and the important Memorial Weekend that comes about 2 weeks later,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of market trends. “But the impressive long-term playability of ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ and ‘Project Hail Mary’ serves as a reminder of the vital importance of conservation power to the overall health of the industry.”
Seven of the weekend’s top 10 players were returning champions. Five of those films reported a drop in ticket sales of less than 50% from the previous weekend, according to data from Comscore.
For box office analysts, this is an important metric. Typically movies will see a 50% to 70% drop each weekend. Seeing smaller declines in ticket sales each week means the film is generating strong word-of-mouth and new moviegoers are purchasing tickets or audiences are returning to watch the film again.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” saw a 46% drop in second-week ticket sales, “Michael” saw just a 30% drop between its second and third weeks in theaters, and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” saw a 45% drop between its fifth and sixth weekends. The most impressive of these was “Project Hail Mary,” which dropped just 23% in its eighth week. Ticket sales for Neon’s “Hokum” dropped 49% in its second week.
These trends bode well for the domestic box office. According to Comscore data, revenue of $3.02 billion was generated in calendar 2026 through Sunday, up 16% compared to the same period last year.
“From a high-level perspective, it’s fair to suggest that escape and ease of access may be important factors,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “While historically, ticket prices have also increased over time, going to the theater remains one of the more affordable out-of-home entertainment options for individuals, couples, and families whose spring and summer vacation plans have changed or are absent due to other economic uncertainties and challenges.”
Ticket sales are still behind 2019 levels, the last real measure before the pandemic curtailed moviegoing. At this point in 2019, the domestic box office had earned $3.8 billion. But more than $720 million of that came from Disney and Marvel’s record-breaking movie “Avengers: Endgame.”
The summer movie season, which runs from the first weekend of May through Labor Day in September, is also about to get a boost with a host of blockbusters.
Disney’s first new Star Wars feature film in seven years will be released in late May with “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” This will be followed by Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” along with Warner Bros.’ “Supergirl” in June. Then there’s Disney’s live-action movie “Moana” in July, and Universal will release Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and Sony’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
“As always, there will naturally be ups and downs in the entire year’s box office narrative,” Robbins said. “Momentum is as good as the latest hit or miss, but the bottom line right now is that the industry is enjoying a realistic near-best-case scenario with plenty of success on the books before the heart of a high-potential summer movie season arrives for good.”
Disclosure: CNBC and Fandango are divisions of Versant Media.
