Warner Bros. may have had a rocky end to 2024 and start to 2025, but boy, has the studio managed to turn things around. Director Zach Cregger's acclaimed horror film only "Weapons" barely topped the box office with just shy of $72 million globally, which includes a better-than-expected $43.5 million opening domestically. With that, WB just became the first Hollywood studio in history to have its last six movies open to at least $40 million in North America. That's what we call a hot streak, folks.
Along with "Weapons," the studio's streak also includes "A Minecraft Movie" ($162.7 million), "Sinners" ($48 million), "Final Destination Bloodlines" ($51.6 million), "F1" ($57 million), and "Superman" ($125 million). "F1" is an Apple Originals production, admittedly, but Warner Bros. is handling distribution. That panned out, as "F1" is the highest-grossing original movie of 2025 with $571 million and counting to its name thus far. In light of the studio's recent track record, it appears that Apple picked the right studio partner.
In any event, it's hard not to look at this as a remarkable accomplishment, particularly in 2025 when the box office has seemingly never been on less certain ground. Not to mention, three of these six WB movies are original titles. "Sinners," in particular, was a massive hit despite under-performing overseas, with Ryan Coogler's vampire flick making $365.8 million worldwide but only $87.3 million across the pond. Still, during this hot streak, that's just about the only knock one can throw at WB. This has been nothing shy of impressive all the way around.
Disney got close to matching this achievement in 2019 when the studio made more than $10 billion at the box office globally. Unfortunately, the Disneynature documentary "Penguins" broke a streak that included "Captain Marvel," "Dumbo," "Avengers: Endgame," "Aladdin," "Toy Story 4," and "The Lion King." Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, not the box office.
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Warner Bros. Can Finish 2025 Strong At The Box Office
It's a remarkable turnaround for Warner Bros., as the studio was in the hot seat less than 12 months ago. Indeed, 2024's "Joker: Folie à Deux" was a colossal flop that put Warner Bros. Pictures co-heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy on the hot seat. When Bong Joon Ho's "Mickey 17" then lost millions of dollars alongside the massive misfire that was "The Alto Knights" earlier this year, the heat increased.
De Luca and Abdy were damn near fired by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. Then, in April, "A Minecraft Movie" opened to record-breaking numbers en route to a staggering $955 million worldwide. It was even the top-grossing U.S. movie of 2025 until "Lilo & Stitch" crossed the $1 billion mark. That kicked off an unbroken streak of hit after hit for WB, including "Superman," which fully launched the new DC Universe and will finish as the highest-grossing comic book movie of the year with at least $600 million worldwide, when all's said and done. It all makes for one of the most impressive runs we've seen at the box office since the pandemic upended the movie business five years ago.
The even better news is that WB's streak figures to continue when "The Conjuring: Last Rites" hits theaters in September. If the buzz is strong, there's a good chance that one could open to $40 million or more as well. After that, Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" remains a pricey question mark, but Leonardo DiCaprio's star power could do wonders. "Mortal Kombat II" will thereafter close out WB's year in October, and it has breakout sequel potential. The streak will end at some point but, for the time being, one must tip a cap to what De Luca and Abdy have accomplished.
"Weapons" is now playing in theaters.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
