Domestic Summer Box Office Crosses $4 Billion, Led by Spider-Man and Nolan's Odyssey
The domestic summer box office — ticket sales in the United States and Canada — crossed $4 billion on Monday, August 10, 2026, only the second time the milestone has been reached since the pandemic shuttered cinemas in 2020. Box-office tracker Rentrak confirmed the figure, which puts the four-month summer frame on pace to rank as the highest-grossing domestic summer since 2019, according to Rentrak's head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian, speaking to Variety.
The summer stretch, running roughly May through August, accounts for about 40% of the annual domestic box office. Just days before the milestone, the season sat only $14.8 million shy of the $4 billion line through the preceding Sunday, per Rentrak data reported by ABC News.
Sony's Spider-Man: Brand New Day carried the season. It grossed $655 million domestically and $2.67 billion globally to date, making it the highest-grossing film of summer 2026. The film crossed $1 billion worldwide in just six days of release — the second-fastest movie ever to reach $1 billion at the international box office, per Variety.
Universal's The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan, grossed $460 million in North America and $1.1 billion worldwide after four weekends, becoming Nolan's highest-grossing film, per Variety. Disney's Pixar sequel Toy Story 5 took $470 million in the US and joined the billion-dollar club worldwide. Lionsgate's Michael Jackson biopic Michael also crossed $1 billion globally in July after holding strong for months.
A24's horror release Backrooms grossed $197 million domestically and $395 million worldwide. Focus Features' Obsession took $263 million domestically and $488 million globally. Disney's The Devil Wears Prada 2 grossed $220 million in the US and $690 million worldwide.
Not every bet paid off. Big-budget misfires across the season included Disney's The Mandalorian and Grogu and the live-action Moana, DC's Supergirl, and Amazon MGM's Masters of the Universe.
The only previous post-pandemic summer to clear $4 billion was 2023, when ticket sales reached $4.09 billion, driven by the Barbie–Oppenheimer double bill known as Barbenheimer. Since then, the domestic summer has climbed steadily: $3.4 billion in 2022, led by Paramount's Top Gun: Maverick; $3.67 billion in 2024, paced by Disney's Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2; and $3.655 billion in 2025, led by Disney's Lilo & Stitch remake.
The all-time domestic summer record still belongs to 2013, which tallied $4.755 billion — not adjusted for inflation. The last pre-pandemic "normal" summer, 2019, reached $4.3 billion; 2018 hit $4.42 billion on the strength of Avengers: Infinity War and Incredibles 2.
Exhibitors now believe 2026 could be the first full year since the pandemic to surpass $10 billion in domestic ticket sales. With the summer frame already cleared, the autumn and holiday corridors need only hold pace.
