North American theaters reach $8.76 billion, 20% ahead of 2025

North American box office revenue is 20% ahead of 2025 as Hollywood approaches a holiday season led by new "Hunger Games," "Dune" and "Avengers" films, Variety reported Sunday.

Rentrak data show theaters had taken in $8.76 billion this year through Sunday. The industry had crossed $8 billion by October, whereas it took until December to reach that level in 2025.

The year's total is projected to exceed $10 billion for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Variety, the San Francisco Chronicle and IndieWire. The last time North American theaters reached that threshold was 2019.

"While we're still working to close the gap with the pre-pandemic marketplace, we're now less than 10% behind 2019 at the same point on the calendar," Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak's head of marketplace trends, told Variety.

He called that "pretty significant, particularly given how much the theatrical marketplace has changed over the past seven years."

The gap is still 9% compared with 2019, the final year before the pandemic. Moviegoing attendance has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, despite demand for pricier premium formats such as Imax.

Yearly revenue has remained under $9 billion throughout the past half-decade.

The Chronicle put the running total near $8.6 billion on Nov. 8, almost matching the $8.87 billion theaters collected over all of 2025.

Summer hits, lighter fall

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" took in $1.8 billion, while Sony's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" earned $2.5 billion, with both films far exceeding projections. Variety counted Amazon MGM's "Project Hail Mary," Lionsgate's musical biopic "Michael," A24's psychological thriller "Backrooms" and Focus Features' horror film "Obsession" as unexpected successes.

Its list of misses included Tom Cruise's satire "Digger," Disney's live-action "Moana" and Amazon MGM's "Masters of the Universe."

Variety described fall business as comparatively light following a record-breaking summer, though A24's Elizabeth Holmes documentary "You Can See Everything" has taken in $89 million domestically.

"It's the movies and the marketing that matter more than anything to general audiences," Dergarabedian said. He said this year "has demonstrated what can happen when audiences have an eclectic mix of films to see on the big screen."

'Dunesday' on Dec. 18

Lionsgate's "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" is expected to open above $100 million before Thanksgiving, Variety said. Variety identified Universal's comedy "Focker-in-Law" and Sony's "Jumanji: Open World" as other possible holiday hits.

"With 'Hunger Games,' along with the Thanksgiving corridor and a very important December still ahead, there's a real opportunity to continue building on that momentum," Dergarabedian said.

Warner Bros.' "Dune: Part Three" opens Dec. 18 alongside Disney's Marvel film "Avengers: Doomsday." The Chronicle said the pairing, nicknamed "Dunesday," recalls the "Barbenheimer" joint opening of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," which made 2023 the strongest post-pandemic year to date. The year's receipts reached $8.91 billion.

"Avengers: Doomsday" has sold more than $60 million in pre-sales, IndieWire reported. "Dune: Part Three" will have exclusive use of Imax screens, while Disney created an "Infinity Vision" certification for its Marvel film.

A source told IndieWire that this Christmas is top heavy, though arguably lighter in sheer number of releases than in recent years.

Paramount's "The Angry Birds Movie 3" opens Dec. 23. The Christmas weekend slate includes "Jumanji: Open World," Paramount's football biopic "Mr. Irrelevant," Robert Eggers' Focus horror film "Werwulf" and Luca Guadagnino's Neon film "Artificial."

Focus has pre-sold select 35mm screenings of "Werwulf," with sales opening on last month's full moon.