Cinema’s comeback

Have you been to the movie theatre this year? Perhaps more than once?

 As we are already in the last stretch of 2026 and the numerous successful releases in many different genres, it is likely you have! Directors have been on a summer hot streak with movie releases this year. Cinema is back baby and it is better than ever! Let’s look at the top movies this year and how they changed the game. 

It is not at all surprising that horror has dominated the box offices this year. This takeover has been held strongly by indie films such as “Obsession” and “The Backrooms” keeping the genre at the top. Both films were highly anticipated psychological thrillers that brought new concepts and ideas to the genre. “Obsession” a film about a wish gone wrong, turning passionate love into a nightmare. Its theatrical release on May 15 of this year has made over $426 million globally after being produced with a budget of only $750,000. The film continues to sit in the top 10 ranking for the top grossing films of the year. 

“The Backrooms”, a liminal space thriller, was released shortly after on May 29 of the same month, was also a box office hit, making $81 million on its opening week alone. This overwhelming reception ended up making “The Backrooms” the largest opening film ever for A24 studios. It has also grossed over $363 million globally. Director Kane Parsons, who started out making videos on Youtube, proved that original concepts that started on the internet can be a box office hit. 

Through these movies, the horror genre has moved on from cheap jumpscares and found a new way to scare audiences. These films are reality adjacent, the backrooms being places you recognize but have never been and a wish taken too literally leaving the audience feeling unnerved and uncomfortable instead of jumping out of their seats. What’s even more impressive is that these films were made on what is considered low-budget expenses. “The Backrooms” cost no more than an estimated $6 million to produce while “Obsession” cost only $750 thousand in total. Their success in the industry has shown that movie watchers love original concepts from small indie developers, paving the way for future indie film makers and shaping the horror genre for years to come. 

If you are not a horror movie connoisseur, 2026 has had other genres rise to the top. Two more box office superstars include “Project Hail Mary” starring Ryan Gosling as the lead actor and Christopher Nolan’s action-packed adaptation on Homer’s “The Odyssey”. “The Odyssey” was well anticipated since its teaser release in July of 2025. Nolan’s ambitious move filming using an IMAX camera, which can only record three minutes at a time, showed audiences, actors, and directors alike that it is possible to film entirely on IMAX. It ended up grossing over $1.4 billion dollars since its release making it the second highest grossing theatrical released film in 2026. 

“Project Hail Mary” also landed in the top 10, making an estimated $684.2 million globally since its release on March 20. The success of these films has shown an incline in the yearn for action-filled science-fiction thrillers this year. 

Animated movies hold three spots in the top 10 highest grossing films of 2026. These films include “Toy Story 5” at number three, which grossed over $1.12 billion worldwide. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” sitting in the fifth spot, grossing a little over a billion globally and finally, “Minions and Monsters” grossed about $505 million globally, placing it at number nine. Outside of the massive revenue stream these movies amassed, their success shows that animated movies, especially additions to childhood favorites, still hold strong in consumers' hearts.  

Throughout summer “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and “Michael” were also released and performed well at the box office. All three of them are also on the top 10 for this year’s highest grossing films. 

“Michael”, a biopic on sensational popstar Michael Jackson, is the highest received biopic, surpassing “Oppenheimer” and “Bohemian Rhapsody". With the release of “Michael”, Jackson's music continues to break records decades after his passing. 

Overall, cinema has had an amazing run this year. Each film discussed has contributed not only to immense box office revenue gain but also attracted large discussion and fan support online. Whether it is fan edits of the movies, or trendy videos parodying the films, cinema has been insanely influential to pop culture and social media in 2026. The 2026 box office is expected to hit $10 billion domestically. This will be the first time this has happened since 2019, which was pre-covid cinema. Cinema truly had its comeback, and the year is not over yet!