This summer, and this year, further shows the importance of protecting the theatrical window as the domestic annual box office has crossed the $7 billion mark according to Rentrak.

Those are the best numbers we’ve seen post Covid, +20% above the same period a year ago (Jan. 1-Aug. 23 which was at $5.86B with the year ending at $8.87B) and it’s 7% behind where we were in 2019 ($7.6B, that year ending at $11.4B). Best annual year post Covid was 2023 with $9B.

If we maintain a +20% pace ahead of last year, we’ll wind up at $10.6B, but don’t count your chickens before they hatch as we’re heading into the fall, which will have varying results between Zach Cregger’s reboot of Resident Evil (expected to do quite well) and DC’s Clayface (a lower budget comic book movie with a different set of box office forecasts than say Superman). Warner/Legendary’s Dune: Part Three and Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday at Christmas will certainly assist in taking us to another atmospheric level at the B.O.

It’s been a year where we’re about to see the second-highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office with Spider-Man: Brand New Day (set to overtake Avengers: Endgame at $858.3M), a record title for Christopher Nolan in The Odyssey ($539M), the continued affecting powers of Pixar in Toy Story 5 ($478M), the power of Nintendo at the B.O. with Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($429.8M), Lionsgate’s highest grossing movie ever with Michael ($372.3M), Amazon’s commitment to theatrical in Project Hail Mary ($344M) and the rise of the YouTube filmmakers in Focus Features’ highest grossing title ever, Obsession ($263.4M) in addition to A24’s all-time record, Backrooms ($197.5M).

Summer stands at $4.4B, +26% ahead of last summer, 6% ahead of 2019’s at this point, and just -2% behind 2013, which remains the best summer ever at the domestic B.O. with $4.755B. If this summer is going to be a record, then it needs to gross $311.8M per Rentrak in the next 15 days, potentially a high bar. Next weekend, there’s 20th Century Studios’ Ridley Scott-directed Jacob Elordi title The Dog Stars, Ketchup Entertainment’s Coyote vs. Acme, while over Labor Day there’s Paramount’s Mark Wahlberg mob title By Any Means and A24’s Adam Wingard-directed Onslaught.