Learn more about the story behind the film; why the theatres are empty in the summer, and why the showings are tame in the more chill seasons.
The summer of 2025 brought a wave of major studio releases, starting with Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning and Thunderbolts in May, followed by titles like Superman, F1: The Movie, and Jurassic World Rebirth. It got me thinking — why do big studios choose to release so many films in such a crowded summer schedule?
The trend dates to 1975, when Jaws, the first summer blockbuster, became the highest-grossing film of all time. Just two years later, Star Wars broke Jaws’ record and cemented the summer as Hollywood’s prime season for big releases. Since then, countless iconic films — from Alien, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future, to modern hits like The Dark Knight and The Avengers — have used the summer months to dominate the box office.
As film historian Thomas Schatz points out, “Summer blockbusters are not just movies — they’re industrial events.” Nearly fifty years after Jaws first hit theatres, Hollywood continues to rely on summer as the most reliable stage for those events to unfold.
One main reason for this trend is schools being closed during the summer. Studios are able to capture wider audiences and specifically target younger viewers during these months. Disney and Pixar, for instance, have released many classics during this time, including Finding Nemo, Inside Out, High School Musical, and Tangled, all of which became iconic blockbusters. Not to mention the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which dominated one summer after another for a decade, starting with Iron Man in 2008.
These films not only focus on theatrical releases but also roll out extensive promotions through merchandising and brand partnerships, catering to a huge collectors’ market. The Barbenheimer trend of 2023 perfectly captures this trend. From McDonald’s Happy Meals to countless promotional products, the blockbuster trend fuels an entire branch of film capitalism — one where studios generate enormous profits beyond ticket sales. Disney is arguably the best example of this model, with Warner Bros. and Universal Studios also following the trend.
Some studios have recently expanded this strategy into the spring and fall seasons with films like A Minecraft Movie earlier this year, and The Conjuring: Last Rites attempting to ride the summer wave. Streaming-release calendars and the global box office also play a major role in this expansion. In the five years since the pandemic, while theatres have struggled to recover, the summer of ’25 marked a promising comeback, with many of this year’s releases becoming major blockbusters.
Nearly five decades after Jaws and Star Wars first defined the summer blockbuster, the tradition still holds. While the industry adapts to new platforms and changing viewing habits, the draw of summer cinema lies not just in the films themselves, but in the collective experience — audiences filling theatres to share in stories designed to be larger than life. With the summer of 2026 already packed with major releases like Minions 3, The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, this trend is only going to grow in the upcoming years.
Contributed Graphic/Vlad Latis/Creative Director
