Willem Dafoe wants record box office to spread beyond blockbusters

Willem Dafoe wants Hollywood's record summer to share the wealth beyond the biggest blockbusters.

The actor spoke while presenting Tenzing as the opening-night film of the 22nd Zurich Film Festival on Sept. 24, in remarks reported by Variety. He said the audience for the record-breaking 2026 box office comes mainly from three or four huge movies, and that success “has got to be spread out a little bit.”

Zurich picked Tenzing to open the festival, with its European premiere on the evening of Sept. 24, according to the Zurich Film Festival. Dafoe attended the opening night alongside co-star Tom Hiddleston.

The film chronicles the first-ever ascent of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, as reported by Variety. Genden Phuntsok plays Norgay and Hiddleston plays Hillary. Dafoe plays Colonel John Hunt, the leader of the 1953 British expedition team.

Tenzing is set for a limited U.S. theatrical release starting Oct. 9, a run in selected cinemas, ahead of its global streaming debut on Apple TV on Oct. 16, according to Variety. That two-step pattern is now common. A short cinema run builds profile before a film moves to streaming worldwide.

The summer numbers behind Dafoe’s comments are large. The 2026 U.S. summer box office totalled a record-breaking $4.76 billion, driven largely by Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Destin Daniel Cretton’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Variety reported on Sept. 25. Domestic means the United States and Canada, the two markets counted together as North America.

Dafoe has a direct link to one of those franchises. He first appeared as Green Goblin in Sam Raimi’s 2002 film Spider-Man and returned in the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, according to Variety. That 2021 release collected $253 million on its domestic debut, Variety reported at the time. Dafoe said his most consistent point of recognition from audiences is probably the Green Goblin.

What makes this stand out is the speaker. Dafoe is a four-time Oscar nominee, with past nominations including Platoon (1986), Shadow of the Vampire (2000) and The Florida Project (2017), according to the Zurich Film Festival. He moves between studio franchises and smaller festival titles.

For fans, this means two dates to note. Tenzing plays in selected U.S. cinemas from Oct. 9 before reaching Apple TV worldwide on Oct. 16.