The Avatar, Marvel and Mission: Impossible franchises are projected to be key drivers for 2025, as well as James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ and the ‘Wicked’ sequel.
Global box office revenues in 2025 are projected to reach $33 billion, marking an 8% increase from 2024’s estimated $30.5 billion take, according to film industry analysts at Gower Street Analytics.
The North American market is set to generate approximately $9.7 billion – up 9% from 2024 – while international territories (excluding China) are projected to deliver $16.8 billion – representing a 7% year-over-year gain.
The forecast sees EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) delivering $9.1 billion, Asia Pacific (excluding China) generating $5.3 billion, and Latin America contributing $2.4 billion to the international total.
China is conservatively estimated to contribute $6.6 billion.
“2025 is set to be a strong year for the global box office, fuelled by robust studio slates and independent productions,” Gower Street Analytics CEO Dimitrios Mitsinikos said. “The domestic market is anticipated to approach, and potentially surpass, the $10billion mark, edging closer to pre-pandemic norms.”
Indeed, the projected figures for next year still trail pre-pandemic levels, landing 14% below the 2017-2019 average at historic exchange rates and 3% behind 2023. That said, when re-calculated using current exchange rates, 2025’s forecast comes in 1% ahead of 2023’s performance.
So, what movies will be driving this 2025 boost?
Well, the 2025 slate includes new entries in the Avatar, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mission: Impossible, John Wick and Jurassic World franchises, as well as James Gunn’s Superman, which will launch DC’s new universe.
Elsewhere, there are high hopes for the closing chapter of Wicked, titled Wicked: For Good, while Disney’s Zootopia sequel will aim to replicate the commercial success of the first instalment.
This week, Disney became the only studio to hit $2 billion at box office in the US, the only studio to do so. This is due to the success of movies like Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2 and Moana 2. The figure is expected to increase with the release of Mufasa today.
Rob Mitchell, Director of Theatrical Insights at Gower Street, also stated that the 2025 release calendar features “a host of other exciting original IP titles from visionary directors such as Bong Joon-ho, Osgood Perkins, Ryan Coogler and Joseph Kosinski. There is huge potential for global breakouts even beyond our current projections.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Gower Street’s chief analyst Thomas Beranek points to the following year as a potential breakout year, citing a packed schedule featuring new installments of Avengers, Spider-Man, Super Mario Bros., Star Wars and Christopher Nolan’s next project, following from the critical and commercial success of last year’s Oscar-winning Oppenheimer.
