Sequels, prequels and remakes–the year’s top 10 titles all coming from existing intellectual property.
The industry’s top studios are returning to familiar characters and settings to drive movie ticket sales in 2025 as well.
Next year, between 50% and 70% of the movies from the six major studios — Universal, Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony and Lionsgate — will be related to existing IP
The industry’s top studios are returning to familiar characters and settings to drive movie ticket sales, a strategy that is not new, but seems to be growing.
“There’s been a recognition by studios that the known commodities are what most audiences gravitate toward,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Top 10 domestic film releases of 2024 (so far)
- “Inside Out 2” — $652.9 million
- “Deadpool & Wolverine” — $631.3 million
- “Despicable Me 4” — $360.7 million
- “Dune: Part Two” — $282.1 million
- “Twisters” — $267.5 million
- “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” — $250.3 million
- “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” — $196.3 million
- “Kung Fu Panda 4” — $193.59 million
- “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” — $193.57 million
- “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” — $171.1 million
Of the top 20 highest-grossing domestic releases of 2024, only 2 are considered original content — Paramount’s “IF” and Neon’s “Longlegs.”
The rest are sequels to major blockbuster features, new and old, or tied to a popular book (Sony’s “It Ends With Us”), TV show (Universal’s “The Fall Guy”) or based on popular historical figure (Paramount’s “Bob Marley: One Love”).
Even before Hollywood was disrupted by the pandemic and the rise of streaming content, the domestic box office was reliant on franchise titles.
For Universal, Warner, Sony, Lionsgate, Paramount and 20th Century Fox (which had not yet merged with Disney), franchise films accounted for between 33% and 62% of total releases in 2019. Disney was the only outlier, with nine of its 10 films coming from established IP
In the animation space, with 2024 entrants like Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” as well as Universal’s “Despicable Me 4” and “Kung Fu Panda 4.”
“Family audiences who utilize a budget-driven calculus when choosing whether or not to buy a movie ticket want the comfortability of the familiar on their side,” Dergarabedian said. “Notably, this trend seems to be creeping into all age demographics as adult audiences are also using this rationale.”
The last quarter of the year:
blockbuster franchise releases of 2024
October
- “Joker: Folie à Deux” (Oct. 4)
- “Smile 2” (Oct. 18)
- “Venom: The Last Dance” (Oct. 25)
November
- “Gladiator 2” (Nov. 22)
- “Wicked: Part One” (Nov. 22)
- “Moana 2” (Nov. 27)
December
- “Kraven the Hunter” (Dec. 13)
- “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” (Dec. 13)
- “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Dec. 20)
- “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (Dec. 20)
These titles have pushed the domestic box office to $6.3 billion through the first nine months of the year, according to Comscore, as “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Inside Out 2” and “Despicable Me 4.:
“2025 will again be emblematic of the IP-and-nostalgia-driven status quo for Hollywood, but those aren’t necessarily dirty words,” said Shawn Robbins, founder of Box Office Theory. “Some of the most well-received box office hits in recent memory have been sequels or films based on existing brands, but there is still a variety of original content out there.”
Franchise and IP-based films in 2025 (so far)
Universal
- “Wolf Man” (Jan. 17)
- “Dog Man” (Jan. 31)
- “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” (Feb. 14)
- “How to Train Your Dragon” (June 13)
- “MEGAN 2.0” (June 27)
- “Jurassic World: Rebirth” (July 2)
- “The Bad Guys 2” (Aug. 1)
- “Nobody 2” (Aug. 15)
- “Downton Abbey” sequel (Sept. 12)
- “Gabby’s Dollhouse” (Sept. 26)
- “The Black Phone 2” (Oct. 17)
- “Wicked: Part II” (Nov. 21)
- “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” (Dec. 5)
Disney
- “Captain America: Brave New World” (Feb. 11)
- “Snow White” (March 21)
- “Thunderbolts*” (May 2)
- “Fantastic Four: First Steps” (July 25)
- “Tron: Ares” (Oct. 10)
- “Zootopia 2” (Nov. 26)
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (Dec. 19)
Sony
- “Paddington in Peru” (Jan. 17)
- “Karate Kid” (May 30)
- “28 Years Later” (June 20)
- Untitled Spider-Man Universe film (June 27)
- “I Know What You Did Last Summer” sequel (July 18)
- “Insidious” sequel (Aug. 29)
Lionsgate
- “Den of Thieves: Pantera” (Jan. 10)
- “Michael” (April 18)
- “Ballerina” (John Wick) (June 6)
- “Dirty Dancing” sequel (Summer 2025)
- “Saw XI” (Sept. 26)
- “Now You See Me 3” (Nov. 14)
Warner Bros.*
- “Minecraft” (April 4)
- “Superman: Legacy” (July 11)
- “The Conjuring: Last Rites” (Sept. 5)
- “Mortal Kombat 2” (Oct. 24)
- “The Bride!”
Paramount
- “The Smurfs Movie” (Feb. 14)
- “Mission Impossible 8” (May 23)
- “Naked Gun” movie (July 18)
- “SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” (Dec. 19)
* Warner Bros. has six untitled “event” films on its calendar. It is unclear if those are tied to franchises or IP at this time.
The 2025 movie calendar wraps up with a third Avatar film in mid-December, meaning ticket sales will bleed into 2026. Then that summer starts with an Avengers team-up film, followed by a “Mandalorian” Star Wars movie over Memorial Day weekend. Another Star Wars film will round out Disney’s big year in December 2026.
With a second “Super Mario Bros. Movie,” a fifth “Toy Story,” a fifth “Shrek,” another Hunger Games film, a Supergirl flick, another Batman film from Matt Reeves and the release of a third “Dune” film, 2026 is on track for a staggering box office haul.
