“A Minecraft Movie” is the first gigantic release of 2025, with well over $300 million and counting at the domestic box office. “Captain America: Brave New World” got to $200M, but half of that was in its initial Thursday through Monday Presidents’ Day weekend stretch. They’re the only two films to earn at least $100M so far this year… with the first third of 2025 coming to a close. Theaters are looking to significantly increase that number, and thankfully this summer offers plenty of opportunities for blockbusters.
The season kicks off May 2nd with “Thunderbolts*”. Three weeks later it’s a Memorial Day weekend doubleheader of “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning”. “Karate Kid: Legends” wraps up May, and “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina” brings us into June. That month also includes the live-action “How to Train Your Dragon”, Pixar’s “Elio”, “28 Years Later”, “F1” starring Brad Pitt and “MEGAN 2.0”.
July’s offerings are “Jurassic World: Rebirth”, James Gunn’s “Superman”, a new CG “Smurfs” adventure and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”. And don’t count out August with DreamWorks sequel “The Bad Guys 2”, Liam Neeson in “The Naked Gun” revival and Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reuniting for “Freakier Friday”.
There are plenty of mid-level releases that could also overperform, including A24 rom-dram “Materialists”, “Final Destination: Bloodlines”, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation “The Life of Chuck”. Bob Odenkirk’s also back for “Nobody 2”, and Wes Anderson’s latest arrives, “The Phoenician Scheme”.
I’m looking forward to this summer at the cinema. Don’t count out at home blockbusters too — like “Happy Gilmore 2” on Netflix and “Predator: Killer of Killers” on Hulu. But honestly — it’s the theaters that have the more jam-packed lineup overall, and as Best Director Oscar winner Sean Baker said in his acceptance speech to nearly 20 million viewers, “The theater-going experience is under threat. Movie theaters are struggling, and it’s up to us to support them.”