The first half of 2025 has presented a mixed picture for the North American box office, with fluctuations in both revenue and ticket pricing. The first quarter saw a decline in domestic revenue compared to 2024, driven largely by a weaker film slate and fewer big-budget releases in premium formats. That reduced demand led to a softening in ticket-price inflation in the first quarter, with our model estimating an average ticket price of $11.25 for Q1—up 1% from Q1 2024.
By contrast, the second quarter recorded a larger increase in average ticket price, rising 5% compared to the same period in 2024. This growth was largely driven by the opposite factors seen in Q1. Ticket sales strategies, the expansion of premium formats, and the quality and popularity of films all contributed to ticket price changes, according to the theater chains that publish ticket prices. In this month’s Business Report, we looked specifically at how premium formats and film popularity are driving increases in ticket prices.
Regarding premium formats, we analyzed the top 10 movies released in the second quarter of both 2024 and 2025. There is a difference of $580 million between the two years, representing a 36% increase in box office revenue. Interestingly, only 2 of the top 10 films in 2024 were released in 3D format, compared to 5 in 2025. For IMAX, 7 of the top 10 movies were released in the format in both years. However, the main difference is that 6 of the movies in 2025 were part of the Filmed For IMAX® program, whereas none were in 2024. According to IMAX, this program enables filmmakers to optimize the IMAX experience, provides incremental marketing support, and, based on box office metrics, consistently results in higher market share for IMAX. Examples of this include Sinners, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and F1: The Movie, where IMAX delivered around 20% or more of the domestic opening weekend. Prior to these titles, only five Hollywood movies had ever reached this percentage in the company’s history, according to IMAX’s SEC filings for the second quarter of 2025.
As shown in the table below, premium formats contributed to the success of all the top 10 movies in Q2 2025. Premium format tickets tend to be more expensive, of course, which is one reason why the current average ticket price for the second quarter is higher than during the same period in 2024.
Our model relies on average ticket prices reported in SEC filings from three major theater chains: AMC, Cinemark, and Cineplex. This data is modeled against average ticket prices previously reported by the National Association of Theater Owners (through 2021) and The Cinema Foundation’s 2022 Theatrical Market Report. After 2025, we have updated our model based on additional data from our partners, resulting in revised estimates starting from 2022.
The exact parameters for the model, derived from our most recent analysis, are shown below. Historically, our model has demonstrated a high degree of alignment with the acknowledged industry benchmark, and the R-squared value measures the model as 96% accurate.
For our full analysis of Q2, and to get quarterly updates to average ticket prices, box office predictions for the next 12 months, and more, subscribe to The Numbers Business Report.
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