Ever since film criticism and box office analysis became integrated with social media, fans tend to get caught up in the minutiae of day-to-day debates about every new release and its (perceived) performance in the marketplace. However, while a lot of people are busy looking at side-by-sides that make (specious) box office comparisons, they may be missing the bigger picture of how well things are going, on the whole.
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Case in point: Warner Bros. Pictures is having one hell of a comeback year in 2025, even though most of Film Twitter may not be acknowledging it. After years of struggling with behind-the-scenes shakeups in leadership and executive teams, a major acquisition, and some of the most public struggles trying (and failing) to get major franchise IPs established, Warner Bros. has had a record-setting year for its films in 2025.
As analysts are pointing out, Warner Bros. has had six films opening to $40 million or more in 2025 – a record no other studio has ever achieved. The six films are (in order of release):
- A Minecraft Movie (opened to $162.8 million domestically)
- Sinners ($48M)
- Final Destination: Bloodlines ($51.6M)
- F1 ($57M)
- Superman ($125M)
- Weapons ($42.5M)
There are a lot of holes that some may try to poke in these figures, fairly so in some cases. Minecraft Movie and Superman were easy calls, as both were highly anticipated releases built around highly lucrative IPs and characters. Superman alone has sparked furious debate about box office figures and inflation relative to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (2012), with so many fans suddenly finding themselves to be able statisticians.
Why Warner Bros. Is Winning the Right Way
On the other hand, it’s undeniable that WB has put out a string of hits in 2025, and contrary to what many would say about the film industry, the studio came by these wins via methods most fans would claim are the “right way” to do things.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Zach Cregger‘s Weapons are both entirely original horror films: Sinners was a gamble that has paid off at the box office ($365.9M) and sparked possible awards acclaim; Weapons went from having its script spark a bidding war, to one of the best openings for a director’s sophomore project (and an original work at that). For those who say studios aren’t investing in original ideas, this is hard to argue against.
The same goes for any flak WB has gotten for its controversial choice to release the 2021 film slate on streaming the same day as theatrical premieres. Sinners and F1 both made premium theatrical formats like IMAX a major part of their marketing, and theatregoers responded in kind. More importantly, Coogler and F1 director Joseph Kosinski made their respective films using IMAX cameras from the start, and both delivered experiences that compelled viewers to actually be in theaters, to experience something that only theaters can provide. So to those who think studios are abandoning the theatrical system, this kind of success is, again, hard to argue against.
Final Destination: Bloodlines and Superman may have both been reboots of previously successful film properties, yes, but both were successful in hitting the mark, luring old fans back, while also attracting a whole new generation of moviegoers. Minecraft was the successful culmination of years of start-and-stop struggles to adapt the mega-popular game for the big screen, while Minecraft and Superman were both risky rolls of the dice for the studio to launch entirely new franchise lanes. Not only were the films successful, but the larger branding and merchandising campaigns for both family-friendly films seem to be big wins for the studio. So, in terms of making old things new again in a relevant and family-fun way, WB seems to have cracked the code.
We’ll see how things take shape in the latter half of 2025, but Warner Bros. has plenty to be smiling about at this point.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios. -
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