A number of movies have not performed as well as they could have at the box office during the first six months of 2025. The year has ultimately been promising, producing a number of huge hits including A Minecraft Movie ($954.9 million), Lilo & Sтιтch ($948 million and counting), and Sinners ($364.6 million).
The 2025 summer movie season has also been heating up, with the Brad Pitt racing drama F1 The Movie speeding up the charts after earning the best domestic opening weekend for an Apple Studios release since they first started releasing movies in 2019.
However, not every release has been so lucky. Even among movies that have landed on the chart of the Top 10 movies of 2025 so far, there are a number of other releases that could or should have done better for a variety of reasons. Whether they were hampered by their budgets, reviews, or strong compeтιтion, they deserve more attention.
10
Thunderbolts*
Worldwide Box Office: $381.8 Million
2025’s Thunderbolts* was the second Marvel Cinematic Universe to hit theaters this year, and while it is currently the seventh highest-grossing movie of 2025 worldwide (behind Captain America: Brave New World at No. 6), its $180 million reported budget could place its estimated break-even point as high as $450 million, which is a milestone that it proved unable to reach.
The exact break-even point of Thunderbolts* is unknown, but because theaters keep half of ticket sales and publicity costs are not factored into production budgets, many movies need to earn back at least two and a half times their budgets in order to break even in theaters.
The movie may have suffered because of its close proximity to Captain America: Brave New World. It premiered less than three months after its predecessor, which similarly underperformed, grossing $415.1 million against its reported $180 million budget.
While Thunderbolts‘ Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 88% and Verified H๏τ Popcornmeter score of 93% place it higher than Captain America with both critics and audiences (Brave New World got 47% and 77% respectively), the movie may have suffered at the box office due to general Marvel fatigue.
9
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy
Worldwide Box Office: $139.5 Million
It seems likely that Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy made its money back and turned a small profit, given the fact that its reported budget is just $50 million. However, the movie could potentially have become a veritable hit if it had been released in domestic theaters instead of going straight to streaming on Peacock in the United States.
Below, see a breakdown of the box office performance of all four Bridget Jones movies:
|
тιтle |
Budget |
Domestic B.O. |
International B.O. |
Global B.O. Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) |
$25 million |
$71.5 million |
$262.7 million |
$334.3 million |
|
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) |
~$50 million |
$40.2 million |
$224.9 million |
$265.1 million |
|
Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016) |
$35 million |
$24.2 million |
$187.7 million |
$211.9 million |
|
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025) |
$50 million |
N/A |
$139.5 million |
$139.5 million |
Mad About the Boy was still the lowest-grossing installment internationally, failing to avoid the diminishing returns that likely led it to be sent straight to streaming in the U.S. in the first place. However, news of its success could have potentially propelled U.S. audiences to be more interested than they were in 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby.
After all, the rom-com genre is in a very different place now. In fact, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is the third highest-grossing English-language romantic comedy of the 2020s, behind the 2023 smash hit Anyone But You ($218.9 million) and 2022’s Ticket to Paradise ($168.6 million), which is why its performance still made waves.
8
Mickey 17
Worldwide Box Office: $131.8 Million
Resting just outside the Top 10 at No. 14, the sci-fi comedy Mickey 17 could have been considered a blockbuster if not for its large reported budget of $118 million. The Bong Joon Ho movie was set up for success, as it was the director’s first feature since 2019’s Parasite, but it failed to capitalize on that movie’s impressive performance.
While Parasite was a Best Picture-winning hit that grossed $258.1 million worldwide, that movie had a much slimmer reported budget of $11.4 million. Given the facts that star Robert Pattinson is more widely known than the Parasite cast worldwide and that Mickey 17 has a similarly idiosyncratic blend of tones and genres to Parasite, it should have performed better.
7
Elio
Worldwide Box Office: $73.9 Million
Pixar’s Elio is only beginning its third weekend in theaters at the time of writing, so it could rise to a much stronger number by the end of its run. However, it seems unlikely to turn a profit based on its reported budget of $150 million, given the fact that it debuted with Pixar’s lowest-grossing opening weekend of all time.
Elio debuted with $20.8 million at the domestic box office, premiering at No. 3 behind 28 Years Later and How to Train Your Dragon.
This could be bad news for original Pixar movies. While 2023’s Elemental proved to have strong audience hold and eventually grossed $496.4 million after a $29.6 million debut, Elio is only the second Pixar original to be released in theaters since 2020, and it might set a bad precedent for their future originals in spite of its 90% Popcornmeter score.
6
Companion
Worldwide Box Office: $36.7 Million
2025’s Companion most likely turned a profit because it only has a reported budget of $10 million. However, the unique sci-fi thriller was quickly overshadowed by splashier genre hits such as Sinners, The Monkey, and Final Destination Bloodlines in spite of its electric twists and turns and its memorable leading performances from Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid.
5
Novocaine
Worldwide Box Office: $34.4 Million
The action-comedy Novocaine is another Jack Quaid genre movie that deserved more attention from the box office at large. Unlike Companion, it seems less likely that the movie ended up in the black during its theatrical run, because it came with a more sizable reported budget of $18 million.
This is unfortunate because its cast is jam-packed with stars who are proving their mettle in the action genre and deserve further theatrical showcases. In addition to Jack Quaid, this includes Smile 2‘s Ray Nicholson, Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s Jacob Batalon, and Prey star Amber Midthunder in her first major theatrical action role.
Ray Nicholson, who also starred in 2025’s Borderline, is the son of three-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson.
Similarly, the underwhelming box office could be a road block for co-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, who have proven themselves adept with unique genre hybrids between Novocaine and their earlier feature Villains.
4
Wolf Man
Worldwide Box Office: $34.1 Million
Blumhouse’s Wolf Man seemed like a surefire hit, as it was their next Universal monster reboot from writer-director Leigh Whannell after 2020’s The Invisible Man, which was both a critical and commercial success (earning a Certified Fresh 91% Rotten Tomatoes score and grossing $144.5 million against a reported $7 million budget).
However, Wolf Man stumbled in spite of lacking that budgetary safety net, as its reported budget was twice as high, hitting $14 million. In spite of its lukewarm reception, it should have performed substantially better, especially due to its intriguing premise and a central performance from Ozark powerhouse Julia Garner.
3
Heart Eyes
Worldwide Box Office: $33.1 Million
The Valentine’s Day horror comedy Heart Eyes showed huge promise when its sophomore weekend earned the third-smallest week 2 drop of all time for any major slasher movie. However, it opened the weekend before Valentine’s Day 2025 and once the holiday was over, it seems that interest in the themed project quickly diminished.
Heart Eyes rose 19% in its second weekend and, among slashers that opened in 600 theaters or more, it was only bested by Terrifier 2 (+28%) and 1996’s Scream (+42.8%).
Ultimately, it seems unlikely that Heart Eyes was able to turn a profit off its reported budget of $18 million. However, in spite of its direct connection to the Valentine’s Day holiday, it should have continued to thrive throughout late February thanks to its charming cast (which included Mason Gooding, of 2022’s Scream) and strong comedy chops.
2
Bring Her Back
Worldwide Box Office: $22.6 Million
A24’s Bring Her Back is the sophomore horror feature from Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou. While Talk to Me was a mᴀssive hit, grossing $91.9 million against its $4.5 million reported budget and becoming A24’s third highest-grossing theatrical release worldwide, Bring Her Back was not so lucky.
Its reported $15 million budget likely prevented it from turning a profit in theaters, which is a disappointment considering the fact that Bring Her Back ups the ante on all of the aspects that made Talk to Me so memorable, including both its emotional themes and its grotesque violence.
1
The Life of Chuck
Worldwide Box Office: $8.3 Million
The Life of Chuck sees writer-director Mike Flanagan making his third Stephen King adaptation after Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep. It should have been especially intriguing considering the fact that it is a rare step away from the horror genre on the part of both creators, which is what makes its perilously low box office haul especially disappointing.
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