Warner Bros. Just Hit A Box Office Milestone, And It Can Thank Original Movies Like Sinners And F1

Ever since the global pandemic, theatrical exhibition has been struggling. While we’ve still seen billion-dollar blockbusters, like this summer’s live-action Lilo & Stitch, it can’t be argued that studios aren’t seeing the return they once did. And while Warner Bros. hasn’t seen a movie break the billion-dollar mark since Barbie, it has hit a box office milestone of its own, one that might actually be more impressive.

While we tend to look at box office records as a question of who can put up the biggest numbers, having the biggest movie of the year may be cold comfort if the rest of your slate of films bombs. Warner Bros. in 2025 actually has the highest-grossing (domestic) movie of the year, but even more importantly, it hasn’t seen a major flop in months.

Warner Bros. 2025 Domestic Box Office Has Been Incredibly Consistent

A look at this year’s domestic box office numbers to date (and summarized by DiscussingFilm) shows that WB has had six consecutive films open with a box office of at least $40 million. Weapons put up $42.5 million this past weekend as the sixth film in a row to do so, following Superman, F1, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Sinners, and A Minecraft Movie.

Two of those movies, Superman and Minecraft, had openings much better than $40 million. Both opened over $100 million domestically. Minecraft is currently the highest-grossing movie of the year domestically, just slightly ahead of Lilo & Stitch. However, the thing that stands out about the numbers is the number of original movies in that list.

WB’s Non-Franchise Movies Have Been Impressive

While half of the movies in WB’s streak are from existing franchises or IP, the other three are completely original concepts, and considering how many original movies have continued to struggle even compared to the rest of the theatrical slate. Sinners' box office success was an anomaly at the time, but now it's got company.

Even if the original movies aren’t doing quite as well as the franchises, the fact is that movies like Sinners and Weapons also don’t have budgets nearly as high as the major franchises, so they don’t need to be nearly as successful in order to be considered profitable in the eyes of the studio.

At a time when we’re seeing studios put all of their eggs in the basket of a few potential blockbusters, WB may have found a balance between the major tentpoles and the solid performers. It will be interesting to see if WB can keep the streak going. The studio has three more releases planned in 2025. One of them is an original, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another with Leonardo DiCaprio, and two are franchises, with The Conjuring: Last Rites and Mortal Kombat II.