Box Office Slump Stems from Lack of These Kinds of Movies

Published: November 10, 2025

wong-zihoo-kRyJPPsLgbU-unsplash — Photo from Wong Zihoo via Unsplash

By Mallory Mattingly

When you look at the numbers, it is evident that the box office has struggled this year, but why?

Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble points to the “fewer wide releases, lack of a major animated title, and some films that really broke out in 2024 made for tough comps at the box office year-on-year,” per Deadline.

“When you look at just the scale of some of the movies that were released last year, you had some big, big overperformers in the third quarter with a TWISTERS and a BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE, you just had a wider release slate than you had in the third quarter of this year, as well as the past couple of months,” Gamble said on a call with Deadline after Cinemark reported quarterly earnings. “But as we look ahead to November and December, the inverse is the case.”

The end-of-the-year movies slated to hit theaters should help boost the box office, and Gamble predicts it will outperform 2024.

“You’ve got just a loaded slate of movies coming to wrap up the year – it’s just the way the dates got planned out – which, on paper, should far exceed last year. So we’ll see how that all continues to play out for the rest of this year,” he said.

Upcoming theatrical releases include PREDATOR: BADLANDS, THE RUNNING MAN, NOW YOU SEE ME: NOW YOU DON’T, WICKED: FOR GOOD, ZOOTOPIA 2, FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEATCH FOR SQUAREPANTS and AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH.

However, one of the biggest factors playing into the struggling box office numbers is the lack of animated movies. These animated flicks typically boost the box office because they often have family values and therefore attract a larger audience.

“Probably the one big difference year over year is we didn’t have a major animated release in the third quarter like we traditionally do,” Gamble explained. “And I think if that had been the case, people would be looking at this year much differently in many respects. One movie can make a big difference in terms of the overall perception. But, again, there’s a lot of big stuff still to come, and I think the story is still to be written on how 2025 ends up.”

While still a few years out, the upcoming animated movie COCOMELON: THE MOVIE is sure to be box office hit.

“Save the date,” Cinemark Theaters announced on X on Nov. 6. “JJ and friends are going on a brand new adventure! CoComelon The Movie, coming to theatres February 26, 2027.”

✨ Save the date ✨

JJ and friends are going on a brand new adventure! 🎶

CoComelon The Movie, coming to theatres February 26, 2027 💚 pic.twitter.com/saqNcf9QvF

— Cinemark Theatres (@Cinemark) November 6, 2025

Gamble is right; the box office has struggled this year, mainly because of the lack of family-friendly animated movies. Hopefully in the coming years, studios will focus on creating content accessible to all ages, which will boots box office numbers.

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