Can Summer Box Office Rebound Take Warner Bros. ‘Up, Up and Away’?

Sure, Superman can save Metropolis. But how about a lumbering legacy media company?

The iconic comic book character has been warmly received at the box office this summer, part of an industry-wide trend of strong theater ticket sales. But is the rising box office tide enough to lift Warner Bros’ boat?

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a … Corporate Restructuring

Warner Bros. Discovery entered the year stuck in media conglomerate mud, with its eponymous film studio in especially bad shape. After two of its biggest releases of the year flopped (that’d be the sci-fi political allegory Mickey-17 and gangster tale The Alto Knights), studio heads Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca were reportedly in the hot seat. But ever since, the studio has been on one of the hottest streaks in Hollywood history, with five consecutive movies debuting at the top of the US box office — just as the company announced plans to split into two publicly traded entities, a move that has delighted Wall Street.

Still, the split is predicated on the idea that the company’s streaming service and content studios can soar once unshackled from sinking cable properties and the bulk of a giant debt load. If this summer is any indication, there’s some truth to the idea — at least, if the company can still find fresh spins on familiar propositions:

• The hot streak kicked off in April with video game adaptation Minecraft, which has now grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide, followed by vampire flick Sinners, the highest-grossing non-sequel or remake film since 2010’s Inception; horror sequel Final Destination Bloodlines, Brad Pitt’s F1 flick (a collaboration with Apple TV+), and finally Superman, which has now grossed over half a billion dollars worldwide.
• Through March, Warner Bros. ranked last in domestic box office share among major box office studios, according to The Numbers. As of Friday, it’s sitting in the top spot, having earned over $1.3 billion at the domestic box office so far, more than its total domestic gross in 2024.

Investors like what they’re seeing: WBD’s share price is up over 20% year-to-date, and up nearly 30% since formally announcing its break-up plan in June. CEO David Zaslav seems to like what he sees, too, recently telling The New York Times that “All of us are really, really proud” of Abdy and De Luca, the executives once in his crosshairs.

Turnaround Story: In fact, the entire industry is witnessing a summer rebound. Through April, the domestic box office was down roughly 13% year-over-year. But through June, it’s up 18% year-over-year, according to Comscore data seen by CNN. And that was before big hits like Superman, Jurassic World Rebirth, and Fantastic Four: First Steps hit theaters. But the biggest global hit of the year? That’d be Chinese animated film Ne Zha II, already closing in on a $2 billion global box office haul (indie studio A24 will be distributing the film in the US later this month).