October 2025 was a disaster at the box office: what went wrong?

2025 has been a year of ups and downs at the box office and, unfortunately, October will become a major low point in this rollercoaster of a year, to the point that we are looking at the worst October in terms of domestic ticket sales in almost three decades, not counting 2020, when theaters were closed for most of the year due to the pandemic. This month was as bad as it could be and worse than anyone could have predicted.

The October 2025 box office will be the worst in 27 years without 2020, with total ticket revenue for the month around $425 million. To put it in context, the last time ticket sales in October of the non-Covid year were lower was in 1997, when the month totaled $385.2 million. Of course, that is not adjusted for inflation. If we take inflation into account, that figure would be closer to the current $779 million. That’s sobering.

Revenue for the month of October peaked in 2018 at $832.8 million, led by Sony’s superhero hit “Venom,” which ended up earning $856 million worldwide and $190 million in North America that month. October 2018 also included big hits like “A Star Is Born” and the “Halloween” reboot.

October 2025 stands in stark contrast to those highs, as almost everything has been a disappointment or a relatively small victory. Hits like “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc,” which recently debuted at number one with $18 million domestically, can’t do much to make up for the many, many flops Hollywood has endured over the past 30 days or so.

Aside from “Black Phone 2,” which opened with $27.3 million earlier this month, almost every other major film has been a relative disappointment, a small victory or a complete failure. There has been virtually nothing to help offset the losses along the way. For example, “Black Phone 2” is the second highest-grossing film so far in the month of October, making around $52 million domestically and counting.

The number one movie? Disney’s big flop “Tron: Ares,” directed by Jared Leto, who has established himself as box office poison at the moment. With a budget of over $200 million, the film opened with just $33.2 million domestically and leads the month of October overall with a dismal $64 million and change. Having a big flop like that at the top of the charts is a bad sign and it gets worse.

At number three is Warner Bros.’ expensive “One Battle After Another”, which remains a major failure in relation to its enormous budget. It’s approaching $40 million domestically for the month of October, which isn’t a lot, but it’s a lot more than many other adult-focused awards season contenders have grossed this month. “Roofman” ($19.9 million), “Regretting You” ($16.9 million), “Good Fortune” ($12.6 million), “The Smashing Machine” ($11.3 million) and “The Strangers: Chapter 2” ($7.8 million) delivered anemic numbers, doing little to motivate moviegoers en masse.

The mistakes have far outweighed the successes, and the successes have been too small to make a difference. Yes, “Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl” grossed $33 million in a single weekend, but it was a limited event. It wasn’t like “The Eras Tour,” which helped lift the box office for weeks. It was something unique.

As a result of this terrible streak, movie theaters are nearly starving, as films like “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” ($10.8 million) and “After the Hunt” ($3 million) have done little to change the situation. The month will end on an austere note, as the Halloween weekend box office will be led by films like “Bugonia” and another round of “KPop Demon Hunters.” The benefits will be minimal.

So where does that leave us? Both Hollywood and theater owners will have to hope that November and December are good and we can finish the year strong. The good news is that, on paper, there is a lot to look forward to. “Predator: Badlands” will be released on November 7, while “The Running Man”, “Keeper” and “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” will be released on November 14. Then things really pick up with “Wicked: For Good” on November 21, followed by “Zootopia 2” heading into Thanksgiving.

As for December? The deck is packed with titles like “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” “Anaconda” and more. There is reason to believe that the last two months of the year will mark a significant improvement. Will it be enough to compensate for the bad things this year has brought? That remains to be seen.

With months like this, it’s easy to see why the global box office may never fully recover from the pandemic. Movie-going habits have changed too much. The bar for what gets people out of the house has been raised too high. Things are more uncertain than ever and that uncertainty doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon.