Historic record for the American box office during the summer of 2026

With $4.76 billion in revenue, North American theaters broke the 2013 summer record.

The big North American screens had never experienced such a summer…

Between May 1 and Labor Day (Labor Day in the United States, timed to the first Monday in September), the US box office generated $4.76 billion, surpassing for the first time the previous record established in 2013. A spectacular performance which confirms the return of enthusiasm for theaters, five years after the shock of the pandemic.

The previous peak dates back to 2013, with $4.755 billion in revenue, driven in particular by Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2 And Man of Steel.

2026 will therefore have been an exceptional vintage, but this historical score must however be put into perspective: the summer period was a little longer this year, with 130 days compared to 123 in 2013. And then the figures for 2013 are not corrected for inflation. The price of tickets has increased in recent years and IMAX screenings represent a significant share of total revenue. So, despite a record number of greenbacks, that does not mean that there was a record number of spectators in cinemas…

This clarification made, the signal remains particularly encouraging for the industry. For the first time in its history, the 4 months of the summer season each exceeded a billion dollars: 1.07 billion in May, 1.08 billion in June, 1.18 billion in July and especially 1.27 billion in August.

And the two behemoths of the summer have largely contributed to this renaissance. Spider-Man: Brand New Day dominates with 923 million dollars collected in North America (and 2.4 billion worldwide). The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan follows with 589 million in the United States and Canada (and 1.62 billion at the worldwide box office… including 486 million generated by IMAX theaters alone, or nearly 30% of its revenue).

The return of franchises is not the only phenomenon to remember. Alongside highly anticipated sequels like Toy Story 5 Or The Devil Wears Prada 2several more unexpected successes also attracted a young audience, notably horror with Obsession And Backroomsproof that theaters can still create phenomena beyond the big Hollywood machines.

In any case, the summer of 2026 ends with optimism while the industry hopes to have definitively turned the page on the pandemic. It’s only the second summer box office since the pandemic to exceed 4 billion dollars, after the 2023 season, marked by the effect barbie And Oppenheimer which made it possible to reach 4.09 billion. Even the summer of 2019, the last season before the health crisis, did less well with 4.3 billion, despite Avengers: Endgame…