💵 Hollywood tallies 2025 results

The year was defined by blockbuster deals: Paramount acquired Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), while Netflix stepped back from asset purchases to focus on original content.

Disney. Clear box office champion ($6.58 billion). Three films joined the billion-dollar club: Zootopia 2 ($1.85 billion), Avatar: Fire and Ash ($1.47 billion) and Lilo & Stitch ($1.04 billion). Snow White and Elio flops tarnished the overall picture.

Warner Bros. Most profitable traditional studio (+47%). Hits like Minecraft ($961 million) and Superman ($619 million) drove success. The studio set a record with seven straight releases opening above $40 million.

Sony. Profit rose 23% despite modest theatrical haul ($1.5 billion vs. $2.4 billion in 2024). Revenue was bolstered by Crunchyroll anime service expansion and Demon Slayer: Infinite Fortress.

Universal (NBCU). Profit fell 22% due to bloated marketing budgets. Top hit: Jurassic World: Rebirth ($869 million).

Netflix. Steady revenue growth (+16%) and profit (+28%). Subscribers topped 325 million. The streamer passed on outbidding Paramount for WBD, prioritizing in-house hits.

Paramount. Ended the year with an expanded $232 million loss. New owner David Ellison vows a turnaround with 15 annual releases, betting on franchises like Mission: Impossible and Sonic.