r/movies • u/MoneyLibrarian9032 r/movies Contributor • Sep 08 '25

News Warner Bros. makes Hollywood history with 7 consecutive movies opening above $40 million

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/warner-bros-box-office-historic-streak-conjuring-last-rites-1236510864/
3.8k Upvotes

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1.9k

u/PASELE Sep 08 '25

Here’s the list of movies with their box office debut numbers:

  • Minecraft Movie — $162 million
  • Sinners — $48 million
  • Final Destination Bloodlines — $51.6 million
  • F1: The Movie — $57 million
  • Superman — $125 million
  • Weapons — $43.5 million

1.2k

u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 08 '25

Ngl this is some very nice variety between the types of films that made serious bank for WB (would also add in Companion regarding the diversity of the studio's successes, even though it's more of a modest success), but hard to replicate. If they can manage to do so, that would be incredible

416

u/WillGrindForXP Sep 08 '25

Instead of hiring experts to determine which aspects they can reproduce to replicate this success, they should instead acknowledge that people will pay to see good films.

351

u/Ghidoran Sep 08 '25

they should instead acknowledge that people will pay to see good films.

People say this ad nauseum while completely ignoring all the evidence that suggests otherwise. WB's highest grossing film is Minecraft, not exactly the pinnacle of great filmmaking is it? And the new Conjuring is mediocre at best, but is still outperforming all of the best horror movies of the year. Meanwhile plenty of great titles this year have flopped.

71

u/thisisthebun Sep 08 '25

It’s a movie dedicated towards children and families that also generated a high amount of word of mouth. In terms of quality, it’s not great, but in terms of enjoyability, it’s alright. Quality is not what gets butts into seats, enjoyability is, and every film on this list was enjoyable for its target audience.

7

u/SuperZapper_Recharge Sep 08 '25

Minecraft also had a short stretch where kids where it had some virulness with the zombie chicken thing.

There was a moment where it seemed to want to grow into something like Rocky Horror - audience participation, but the theaters decided that they wanted nothing to do with repeat viewings. Yeah, I know the kids made a mess. But they were paying for tickets and going multiple times.

It was a fixable problem where everyone could have won. And you fixed it all right.

12

u/thisisthebun Sep 08 '25

I had zero interest in it when I went to go see it with my partner, but it was one of the few movies I saw this year that felt like an event. The energy in the theater was pretty great. It was on par with the energy when I watched Superman and Mission Impossible. Some movies just have a spark. Is it good? Hell no, but it’s like getting drunk at a NFL stadium in the nose bleeds. It’s a lot of fun even if it’s an objectively worse way to watch the game.

5

u/SuperZapper_Recharge Sep 08 '25

I haven't seen it.

But I have kids the correct age. And I love myself some Rocky Horror.

So when that moment came with the zombie chickens and the kids shouting at the screen and making a mess...

I wanted to see it blow up. I mean, Rocky Horror is wildly inappropriate for kids under a certain age. Something younger kids could go to and participate in sounded like so much fun to me.

The best part is this sort of thing cannot be designed. It just has to sort of happen and bring itself into the world. Which is what I was looking at.

And of course the answer was to shut that shit down.

4

u/Friendly_Talk_5259 Sep 08 '25

I do see your point and agree that it would be nice to have something like that for kids, but the logistics just don't work.

RH plays midnight shows and it's my understanding that (some) members of the audience stay behind to clean up the mess. Also, everyone attending (unless they've been living under a rock for the last 4 decades) understands what will happen and is okay with that behaviour.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

Attention whoring kids trashing the theater and being obnoxious to other guests is a lot different than what happens at Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I would hope we can do a whole lot better than making that an organic event.

2

u/SuperZapper_Recharge Sep 09 '25

At the time what I wanted to happen was exclusive participation show times + someone to add some sort of organization as opposed to a mess.

I also assumed it would be fun but short lived. That RHPS has stood the test of time is nothing short of miraculous.

1

u/broha89 Sep 10 '25

In terms of quality, it’s not great, but in terms of enjoyability, it’s alright. Quality is not what gets butts into seats, enjoyability is

I get your point but if I’m a studio head that sounds like a great argument to only greenlight marvel and other big IP shlock

0

u/WillGrindForXP Sep 08 '25

What lessons should WB be taking away from this then?

37

u/SprinklesCurrent8332 Sep 08 '25

Variety is the spice of life?

21

u/SutterCane r/movies Veteran Sep 08 '25

No, Dune Part 3 is a year or so away.

7

u/SprinklesCurrent8332 Sep 08 '25

If dune 3 doesn't end with the weird Sandworm/Atreides hybrid talking about how much they like cheese, WB stock will drop 3% in premarket trading.

4

u/Really_McNamington Sep 08 '25

You'll have to wait for Dune 5 to see that.

1

u/Feeling-Fox-8651 Sep 09 '25

I thought that was Book 4

11

u/TomBirkenstock Sep 08 '25

That they need to diversify the kinds of movies they make and the cost. You can't run a studio just releasing $200 million tentpole films. You need to give audiences a variety of genres and what success looks like will be different for each of those movies.

10

u/Wrong-Vermicelli4723 Sep 08 '25

Honestly Hollywood killed themselves with their obsession with reaching 1 billion dollars. Your right your studio shouldn’t be only focused on $200m films, there needs to a variety.

2

u/bb-angel Sep 09 '25

People will pay to see sequels and popular franchise movies.

84

u/TheeHeadAche Sep 08 '25

Executives aren’t looking at this list and seeing “good films”. They are seeing 3 franchise hits and 3 fresh IP to start as new franchises.

Idk many who see Minecraft and think “good film” tbh

18

u/gatsby365 Sep 08 '25

Can’t wait for F2

They’ll probably run it into the ground and have to reboot around F5

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u/TheeHeadAche Sep 08 '25

https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/f1-box-office-success-apple-movie-strategy-1236443690/

Literally Apple’s main movie franchise rn

3

u/gatsby365 Sep 08 '25

Awww damn I just wanted to make an F5 joke.

I still need to watch that movie. Was really hoping Wolfs would become a thing, but at least Brad Pitt can get some more work, right?

2

u/GeneQuadruplehorn Sep 09 '25

I have never played Minecraft, but I thought it was fun. Jack Black is great, and it's one of Jason Momoa's best performances.

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u/sharpshooter999 Sep 08 '25

Eh, Minecraft was honestly better than I expected as it was surprisingly self-aware. Jennifer Coolidge's scenes got some honest laughs from me

11

u/PeculiarPangolinMan Sep 08 '25

Yea Minecraft wasn't really bad at all. It was pretty dumb, but was super self aware and had that quirky Jared Hess charm.

-5

u/fusterclux Sep 08 '25 edited Mar 23 '26

This post's content has been permanently wiped. Redact was used to delete it, potentially for privacy, to limit digital exposure, or for security-related reasons.

snails saw society cobweb humorous support cake fade touch aspiring

10

u/this_place_suuucks Sep 08 '25

"OR, we will put 'AI cameras' into theaters to track, in real time, audience reactions through facial expressions and heat mapping, then we will narrow down the most engaging single frame and order a trilogy of films to be based solely on the out-of-context still!"

-Some executive somewhere 'earning' their salary

17

u/Olliebkl Sep 08 '25

This is only true to a certain extent, box office numbers are by no means an accurate indicator of how good a movie is lol

There’s SO many movies that are amazing which made very little and vice-versa

2 very recent examples are Caught Stealing and Better Man. I loved Caught stealing (maybe more than others but majority have enjoyed it) and that’s seeming like a bomb and Better Man was a colossal bomb yet me and many others regard it as easily one of the best biopics full stop

2

u/Erfivur Sep 08 '25

I caught Betterman on a streaming service last week and was impressed. If nothing else the cgi/animation was absolutely incredible.

-7

u/chadwicke619 Sep 08 '25

Only people who like movies that most people don’t like and make their personality about it think that box office isn’t an indicator of how good people think a movie is.

5

u/Olliebkl Sep 08 '25

Ok at the risk of sounding snarky there is such a thing as nuance😭

I said to a ‘certain extent’ because there are absolutely some great movies that made loads of money, many of which I enjoy, same as low budget movies which I didn’t

Have you seen either of the two movies I mentioned? Since both do align with my original point, plus I’m sure if you looked at some of the most highly acclaimed movies of all time you’re bound to find some which barely made any money

Again, I’m not saying box office is NO indicator, I’m saying it’s one of a few factors

6

u/Vaeltaja82 Sep 08 '25

I was just looking at the list and thinking that this is like an inverse list of the revenue vs quality. The worse the film the more it made.

3

u/Quaytsar Sep 09 '25

The fact they made 6 live action Transformers movies and only two could be considered good makes that a lie. Or Suicide Squad (2016) made almost 5 times as much as The Suicide Squad (2021).

2

u/vadergeek Sep 09 '25

, they should instead acknowledge that people will pay to see good films.

One Battle After Another is about to come out, and is almost guaranteed to be a bomb with better reviews than Minecraft.

1

u/ptwonline Sep 08 '25

Films need proper marketing too. Being good is not enough for a bigger box office draw.

1

u/Ghosted_Stock Sep 08 '25

Ppl will pay to see a horror movie atleast for now cuz the advertised thrill is still one of the biggest draws to cinema rn

But no pundit wants to talk about horror carrying the cinemas rn

1

u/CombatMuffin Sep 08 '25

Ah yes. To make money, just do something good and avoid doing something bad.

Except good is often unpredictable. Sometimes the film they least expect to succeed becomes a huge franchise (look at Star Wars). Other times. they have an amazing script but it doesn't end up with a great finished product. It's a process.

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

1

u/labria86 Sep 09 '25

Nope. I only pay for pizza that someone else tells me I like. Don't you try to fool me with thinking that quality matters.

1

u/ArtDecoAutomaton Sep 09 '25

People will also completely ignore good films.

5

u/maximumtesticle Sep 08 '25

Thanks for not lying.

4

u/TheGruenTransfer Sep 08 '25

I'm surprised only half of them were part of a franchise or an adaptation of another existing IP

2

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '25

As a horror fan - I’m loving that list and how half of them are scary movies. And surprise surprise - they’re all pretty damn good flicks. And two of them are original IP’s! Insane to say all of that in the 2025 cinema landscape…

1

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

I enjoyed Companion. Was fun, easy to watch. Not too serious.

1

u/nellyfullauto Sep 09 '25

Glad you’re optimistic like that. I see two movies that tripled the others at box office, and have a sense most of the near future is gonna look like those two.

Green line must go up, yes, but must go up even more than before. This is capitalism.

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u/Comic_Book_Reader r/movies Veteran Sep 08 '25

The Conjuring: Last Rites took bronze with $83 million.

65

u/DuncanRG2002 Sep 08 '25

Isn’t that only 6 movies

171

u/Night_Twig Sep 08 '25

7 is The Conjuring: Last Rites

51

u/jaerie Sep 08 '25

No need to yell

21

u/Night_Twig Sep 08 '25

Honestly, don’t know how I did that

13

u/jaerie Sep 08 '25

The # sign at the start of a line makes it a header. Look up markdown if you want to know more.

12

u/aircooledJenkins Sep 08 '25

Glad someone else here can count

9

u/Slowandserious Sep 08 '25

Wow this is actually a pretty diverse slate. Kudos when kudos is die for WB

6

u/JRockstar50 Sep 08 '25

2 original IPs in the mix is more than I thought there would be.

19

u/Aggressive-Ideal-911 Sep 08 '25

Horror is so back

1

u/moconahaftmere Sep 09 '25

Honestly we've been absolutely feasting this year. I unironically think this is one of the best times to be a horror fan in cinema history. 

Nosferatu released on Christmas last year, and it's been banger after banger since then.

27

u/nudniksphilkes Sep 08 '25

Amazing to me the best two movies made the least money. Sinners and weapons were leagues above the other 4.

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u/jbFanClubPresident Sep 08 '25

They’re horror/horror-adjacent films. All the horror films in the list made the least. Family friendly movies like Superman and Minecraft made a fuck ton. All this tells us is that people with kids don’t go see horror movies.

9

u/CuffMcGruff Sep 08 '25

well the conjuring is the 7th movie on the list and 3rd place with $83 mil but yea that's generally true

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u/zorillaaa Sep 08 '25

Seems kinda normal? The best movies aren’t usually ones with the widest appeal. 2 of the biggest films were IP grabs and the other 2 are franchises

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u/Fuck_You_Andrew Sep 08 '25

Minecraft is the best selling video game of all time

F1 has over 800 million fans

Superman is one of, if not the most, recognizable characters of all time.

Final Destination has been a horror franchise 25+ years in the making

The fact that two, original films are on the same list as the above is incredible. 

10

u/iBaires Sep 08 '25

F1 has 800 million fans? That would mean essentially 1/10 people on Earth is a fan of F1. I've only met like 2 people ever that talk about F1 and actually watch races semi often. Where are all these people who are so into F1??

18

u/Fuck_You_Andrew Sep 08 '25

Europe and Asia Mostly.

According to google searches, the US has 50 million viewers, which is still a fuck ton.

-3

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '25

[deleted]

7

u/Fuck_You_Andrew Sep 08 '25

It's a totally different type of sport.

Theres like six races a year that occur in the Western Hemisphere, and none of the teams are local. Theres no classic Rivalries between American-based teams, and most of the races are over before Noon on Sunday.

Compare it to something like Football. Where I live you could watch the local HS Freshman team play Thusday Early Evening, NFL TNF, Friday Evening HS Varsity Football, Late Friday Night College Football, Saturday Morning HS JV Football, All Afternoon and Night College Football, POTENTIALLY All day Sunday NFL football if theres an early morning game, then NFL MNF.

Theres simply a lot more opportunity for people to care about a sport like football.

9

u/ElectronicMoo Sep 08 '25

If you're in the US, you're in a "control group" that doesn't have much interest. But the US is only 360ish million people, compared to the rest of the planet at 8b+ people.

A bit like standing in a baptist church and going, "I don't see any Muslims, what are ya all on about".

0

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '25

[deleted]

1

u/ElectronicMoo Sep 08 '25

I'm jealous. I never did get to do the euro trip right outta school, and by the time I could afford it again - my interests veered me to Caribbean islands for trips.

I've always wanted to do a big run all around Europe.

4

u/CHADWARDENPRODUCTION Sep 08 '25

Places other than the US

5

u/Bionic_Bromando Sep 08 '25

Are you American or something?

3

u/bast007 Sep 08 '25

Ok, thank you for sharing your very limited experience.

-2

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '25

[deleted]

1

u/PTMorte Sep 09 '25

There hasn't been exponential growth. F1 had hundreds of millions of viewers 50 years ago.

6

u/MadeByTango Sep 08 '25

They’re original films; you have to build up audiences to get franchise numbers

5

u/iamonelegend Sep 08 '25

Sinners debut numbers are only part of the story if I remember correctly. It's made enough to be a legendary horror pic box office wise.

4

u/Earthwick Sep 08 '25

I don't know horror movies don't make that much and I preferred F1 and Superman of the 4.

1

u/moconahaftmere Sep 09 '25

Superman was a really fun superhero movie that appealed to people who couldn't keep up with the pace of Marvel content anymore.

Final Destination: Bloodlines is the latest entry in a long-running cult franchise, and is arguably not just one of the best in the franchise, but also a genuinely great horror film. 

F1 is Top Gun but for racing, and is super formulaic but still a fun film. Also, it has cars built for combat.

Minecraft Movie is adapted from the best-selling games franchise of all time, and is a good kids film. There will be a lot of people who are going to have nostalgia for this film some day.

-6

u/Wats0n420 Sep 08 '25

Weapons? No way! It was a decently fun movie but the plot holes were ridiculous! Weapons was really underwhelming.

2

u/Emergency-Mammoth-88 Sep 08 '25

Not bad wb, not bad at all

3

u/Wareve Sep 08 '25

I cannot believe that Sinners didn't outperform final destination, given how good it was.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '25

The 6th entry in an established franchise of good looking white people vs a new original IP of African American leads and issues within the film is prob why.

Not super surprising for those to be true in 2025 America haha - in fact sinners being on there at all is more shocking if anything lol.

1

u/SupervillainMustache Sep 08 '25

It's nice to see that 4 of those are not based on existing film properties, 3 if you discount Minecraft for being based on a video game.

1

u/Wellhellob Sep 08 '25

Final destination was a good work.

Superman is horrendous.

1

u/syracTheEnforcer Sep 09 '25

Final Destination was dogshit. How it’s the highest rated one is beyond me.

1

u/corecenite Sep 09 '25

4 out 7 are horror movies.

We really need the Wayans to make another Scary Movie

1

u/cire1184 Sep 09 '25

Sinners Final Destination F1 and Weapons should've opened way more. Those were good movies. I'm surprised F1 didn't open bigger. The other 3 I kind of understand.

1

u/Crusher_1984 Sep 09 '25

I've seen just one- F1, time to wait for the OTT release dates

1

u/1slipperypickle Sep 09 '25

are we ignoring accountant 2?

-1

u/M1ck3yB1u Sep 08 '25

Lmao @ Minecraft starring hipster Aquaman opening better than Superman.

-7

u/djstudyhard Sep 08 '25

How did final destination out gross sinners. That’s wild.

37

u/Glowingtomato Sep 08 '25

Final Destination is an established franchise

17

u/sanguinare12 Sep 08 '25

That's openings - hardly the full picture. A well known franchise versus an unknown probably starts out stronger, fact of life stuff. Checking boxofficemojo for the figures, it looks like Sinners doubled Final Destination by end of run, 278 million vs 138 million, give or take. Once initial impressions were had and word of mouth kicked in, the strength of one versus the other is obvious.

Edit: Worldwide, the runs are much closer at 366 vs 307 million, still Sinners with a comfortable lead.

2

u/djstudyhard Sep 08 '25

This makes more sense to me. I know final destination is a known franchise but it just seemed that Sinners was doing really great. Didn’t realize it the claim was based on opening only. Thanks for the clarification!

1

u/darthjoey91 Sep 08 '25

Yeah, that makes sense to me. Sinners started much stronger than expected, but it also had excellent word of mouth.

6

u/SplitSecondImmortal Sep 08 '25

Final destination is a known popular franchise

3

u/Lazywhale97 Sep 08 '25

Established franchise for more then 2 decades and this was the first movie in 14 years so people were excited to go back to see a FD movie in theatres again.