We Keep Shouting Out The Odyssey And Spider-Man, But I Think We’re Missing The Movies That Really Rejuvenated The Box Office In 2026
There’s no question The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day have been massive for the 2026 box office. Heading into the summer, the movie ticket season was 24% behind in revenue domestically from where it was at the same time in 2019 –before the pandemic changed viewing habits for quite some time. However, heading into fall, we’re now just 7.5% behind domestically. Narrowing that gap has been a feat, and we can thank Christopher Nolan, Destin Daniel Cretton and co for a huge chunk of the win there. Yet, I think by focusing on these two movies, we’re missing out on the really interesting story.
Yes, The Odyssey And Brand New Day Have Made A Lot Of Money
The Odyssey hit theaters back on July 17, and has been printing money for almost two months now. Meanwhile, Spider-Man: Brand New Day hit the 2026 release schedule on July 31. So far, Nolan’s movie has raked in $1,640,796,617 globally at the time of this writing, while Sony’s Marvel movie has done even better, pulling $2,412,641,938 by mid-September. Combined, that’s globally well over 4 billion dollars. Domestically, it’s not too shabby either, as Spidey’s brought in $925 million (and still winning box office week after week) and Odyssey’s done $591 million on the home front.
One additional thing that’s worth noting about The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the fact both are still in theaters and quietly driving new revenue every day. The Odyssey, in fact, just extended its IMAX run until the end of September, and we know premium formats like IMAX can bring in higher revenue rates than your average theater.
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Again, there’s no doubt these two movies specifically have made a huge impact this summer, but here’s the stat that will knock your socks off: Domestically, movies in general have brought in $4.76 billion in ticket sales between May and September. That’s the largest amount in that moviegoing stretch in cinema history, and we can’t give all the credit to just these two behemoths.
The Movies That Really Kicked 2026 Into High Gear
However, I’d argue it’s the movies we’re talking about less that really rejuvenated the box office in 2026. The summer movie season arguably kicked off with The Devil Wears Prada 2, which made a splashy entrance with fashionable red carpets and Emily Blunt hiding her outfit behind a dumpster. Domestically, The Devil Wears Prada 2 brought in over $220 million, and over $693 globablly.
Of course, we have been talking about what came next: the double horror duo of Obsession and Backrooms, both which over-performed and broke records. We’d be remiss if we didn’t bring up that Michael made over $372 million domestically and over a billion dollars globally, though there’s a question about whether a sequel will ever see the light of day. And Toy Story 5 wasn’t exactly fighting an uphill battle at the box office either. That movie made over $480 million domestically and over a billion globally, too.
What do all of these movies have in common? They offer options for a range of audiences, from families to youngsters who love jump scares. There’s been a push to get more of a wide variety of content into theaters. Horror. Animation. Biopics. Fashion. Comedy. The real interesting story here is that this summer has not just been defined by a couple of tentpole movies. People who love all different kinds of things are getting back to theaters, baby.
In short, we don’t know if movies coming out in the fall and early winter will get 2026’s final box office numbers up passed where they were back in 2019; although unlike four months ago, it’s actually looking like a possibility. However, with Jumanji: Open World, the next MCU film Avengers: Doomsday and Dune 3 coming down the pipeline, and Dunesday already making major sales, there’s reason to be optimistic, and to hope for an even wider slate of summer movies in the years to come.
