Sequels and remakes highlight 2025 summer blockbuster season
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Summer is Hollywood's blockbuster season, which really comes down to sequels, reboots and remakes.
This summer, sequels and remakes battled it out at the box office.
Tom Cruise powered "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning," produced by Paramount, the parent company of CBS, towards $600 million dollars, almost 30 years after the first one hit the big screen.
Universal's "Jurassic World: Rebirth," the seventh film in the franchise, raked in more than $800 million, and Disney's live-action remake of the 2002 hit "Lilo & Stitch" is the only movie this year to cross the $1 billion threshold.
When asked why Hollywood is focused on making sequels right now, Scott Mendelson, a box office analyst, says, "A large segment of general moviegoers have comparatively stopped going, so in order to get their attention, unfortunately, the easiest or safest way to do that is to give them another version of something they already like."
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reunited to reprise their roles from the 2003 cult classic "Freaky Friday."
"Freakier Friday" went viral on social media months before its release and has proven to be another hit for Disney, grossing more than $86 million as of Monday.
However, massive budgets have meant mixed returns for blockbusters like "Superman" and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," films that studios claimed had budgets just north of $200 million, but aren't guaranteed supersized returns.
Hollywood is banking on a blockbuster summer, but with just a few weeks remaining in the season, ticket sales are coming up short of pre-pandemic box office totals.
Mendelson says studios should look to original releases like Warner Bros.' "Sinners," which has already earned more than $365 million. It is the biggest non-franchise movie in fifteen years.
"The need to appease and impress shareholders on a quarterly basis is not good for creativity, taking risks, [and] artistic freedom," Mendelson expressed.
For those who love sequels, the third "Avatar" movie will be out in theaters this Christmas.
