Summer blockbusters are back: 12 movies to see as Hollywood celebrates a historic year at the box office
As temperatures heat up, cinephiles know there’s no better way to cool down than basking in the air conditioning of a movie theater. Lucky for the overheated masses, studios release summer blockbusters, and the 2026 season is jam-packed. Some industry insiders believe this summer season could gross more than $4 billion, the highest since before the pandemic. Here are 12 movies either in theaters now or coming soon, with some business analysis thrown in for good measure. Two of them open this weekend. Before we get into all that, how did summer blockbusters even become a thing? A brief history of summer blockbusters Air conditioning wasn’t common in movie theaters until the 1930s, but owners quickly realized it was necessary. The term blockbuster has its roots in World War II bombs that could literally destroy city blocks. In the 1940s, audiences flocked to theaters for newsreels to learn the latest about the war. It was during this time that the term blockbuster came to mean high-grossing films. The new definition was featured in a New York Times article to describe Ben-Hur in 1959. Look out! There’s something in the water. This is the terrifying reality that moviegoers in 1975 discovered when watching Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, the original modern summer blockbuster. Two years later, George Lucas repeated the summer blockbuster pattern with Star Wars, establishing a blueprint that remains today. The 2026 box office by the numbers It’s no secret that in a post-COVID and streaming landscape, movie theaters have struggled. However, the tide appears to be turning. At the end of the last year, Gower Street Analytics predicted the 2026 global box office at $35 billion, marking a 5% growth from 2025. This would be the best figure since 2019 but not quite at the level of the prepandemic glory days. According to Axios, Gower Street’s forecast is proving correct, thanks to winter and spring releases such as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Project Hail Mary, and Hoppers. Accordin