A cynicism prevails in the media over this summer’s box office coming in at $3.67 billion , about even with last year’s.

Sure, this summer was a glass half full, even for the major studios. But, let’s pin the blame for false expectations on Gower Street who audaciously predicted that the North American box office was headed for a record post-pandemic $4.2 billion (we even took the bait). That’s why there’s all these sour headlines. Why, how and where they forecasted that number off this summer’s slate to be +14% higher than last summer, go figure. Last summer was powered by a long-awaited Pixar sequel in Inside Out 2 and the Disney Marvel Cinematic Universe’s full-bodied embrace of a R-rated movie in Deadpool & Wolverine (which also benefitted from being the first superhero movie

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