The summer movie season has come to an end, and what a season it has been. Despite some notable box office flops like Supergirl and Masters of the Universe, films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, and Toy Story 5 elevated the summer movie box office to $4.5 billion, the best since 2019. This summer delivered record-breaking numbers and unexpected hits, challenging many conventions of what would typically a successful summer movie.
Since none of the major August releases appear to be breaking out, the top 10 movies of the summer seem settled. However, just because one movie outgrossed another doesn’t automatically make it better. In fact, just because a movie made the box office top 10 doesn’t necessarily make it good. With that in mind, I’m ranking the Top 10 summer 2026 movies and counting down to the absolute best.
10
‘Moana’ (July 10)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 9 (Domestic and Worldwide)
Moana shows how a movie can land in the box office top 10 and still disappoint. Made for a reported budget of $250 million, Moana suffered a disappointing $43 million debut. Competition from The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day didn’t help Moana, and the film grossed $125.8 million domestically and $308.3 million globally.
Why I Ranked It #10: Moana is without a doubt the weakest film of the summer top ten. Although some Disney live-action remakes are poor, they do at least try to add something new to justify their existence. Moana simply tries to tell the same story that people already saw 10 years ago. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the movie is live-action, it looks more artificial than the animated classic. Hopefully, Disney learned something from this box office flop.
9
‘Minions & Monsters’ (July 3)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 7 (Domestic)/5 (Worldwide)
Minions & Monsters is a strange beast. The latest entry in Illumination’s popular Despicable Me/Minions franchise grossed $182.3 million domestically, making it the lowest-grossing entry in the entire franchise. However, it grossed $505.8 million worldwide, which was more than enough to make back its $85 million budget. Minions & Monsters is both a financial hit and a disappointment when compared to the other films in the series.
Why I Ranked It #9: Minions & Monsters is the best Minions movie, but that isn’t saying much. The homages to classic cinema are refreshing and hopefully a great introduction for younger audiences. For that, it is commendable. Sadly, the franchise’s best entry also seems to be its lowest-grossing film. Once the franchise stepped up its game, Minions fatigue set in.
8
‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ (May 22)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 8 (Domestic and Worldwide)
Nearly seven years after the release of The Rise of Skywalker, the Star Wars franchise made its grand cinematic return with The Mandalorian and Grogu. However, unlike the previous times a galaxy far, far away returned to the big screen with The Phantom Menace and The Force Awakens, The Mandalorian and Grogu was met with an underwhelming response. While its $81.6 million opening ($98 million with the Memorial Day gross) would be good for most movies, it was the lowest opening weekend for a live-action Star Wars film. That streak continued, and its $177.7 million domestic and $345.8 million worldwide total makes it the lowest-grossing live-action Star Wars film.
Why I Ranked It #8: The Mandalorian and Grogu was not the rebound that Star Wars needed at the box office. It’s a fun, small-scale one-off adventure for two of the franchise’s most popular characters. While it’s the most straightforward Star Wars movie, it’s also one of the strangest. Its cast is largely aliens brought to life through puppets and CGI, with a lead character who shows his face for only five minutes. The Mandalorian and Grogu is best enjoyed as the cinematic equivalent of a Star Wars paperback getting a feature-film adaptation; it isn’t the epic one expects from the franchise, but it delivers just enough of what people like.
7
‘Backrooms’ (May 29)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 6 (Domestic)/7 (Worldwide)
Backrooms is one of two films that shows the growing power of Gen-Z as a box office demographic. The adaptation of the popular YouTube series opened to a massive $81.4 million opening weekend, ultimately grossing $197.5 million domestically and $394.1 million worldwide. Backrooms was the biggest opening weekend and highest-grossing film in A24’s history. The fact that this wasn’t the biggest story of the summer proves how great the box office was.
Why I Ranked It #7: Backrooms sadly loses momentum in its third act, and it features a classic horror movie problem: the more it explains, the less scary it becomes. However, the first two acts are incredibly impressive, particularly since director Cane Parson is only 24. It’s an incredible debut feature that hopefully marks the beginning of an impressive career.
6
‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ (May 1)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 5 (Domestic)/4 (Worldwide)
After Avengers: Doomsday was delayed to Dec. 18, 2026, The Devil Wears Prada 2 was given the coveted first weekend of May release date and kicked off th summer movie season. The decision paid off: The Devil Wears Prada 2 opened to $76.7 million in its opening weekend, held the number one spot for two weekends, and grossed $220.5 million domestically and $692.6 million worldwide. This means that The Devil Wears Prada 2 outgrossed the combined box office of Moana and The Mandalorian and Grogu, making it a more profitable investment for Disney.
Why I Ranked It #6: What could have been another legacy sequel is a thoughtful exploration of the state of print journalism and digital media in an age of corporate consolidation. The four main actors all confidently return to their roles while adding new depth and proving how their characters have grown in the 20 years since the original film. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is much better than it had any right to be, and has something important to say about the value of writers and publishing in an age where AI is becoming widely accepted.
5
‘Obsession’ (May 15)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 4 (Domestic)/6 (Worldwide)
There are box office surprises, and then there is Obsession. After debuting at $17.1 million in its opening weekend, word of mouth drove Obsession‘s weekend box office up for two straight weekends, and it remained in the box office top 10 for 11 weeks. Obsession grossed $263.4 million domestically and $501.6 million worldwide, all against a $1 million budget. Obsession is now the highest-grossing original film released since the COVID-19 pandemic at the worldwide box office.
Why I Ranked It #5: Obsession‘s unprecedented box office performance signals strong word of mouth, as it benefited from being seen in theaters with a crowd. The film has entered the cultural zeitgeist and already become an important part of horror movie history. Inde Navarrette has become the most in-demand star in Hollywood, landed the role of Rogue in X-Men and is a potential Best Actress nominee for her performance as Nikki. If not for a particular superhero movie, this would have been the box office story of the year.
4
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ (July 31)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 1 (Domestic and Worldwide)
In January 2026, I wrote that even if Spider-Man: Brand New Day was the biggest movie of summer, it would likely not be as big as Spider-Man: No Way Home. After all, Spider-Man: No Way Home had the big nostalgia hook of featuring the three live-action Spider-Men together on screen. How could Brand New Day compete with that? Well, time makes fools of us all. Spider-Man: Brand New Day not only outperformed No Way Home, but also Avengers: Endgame. Brand New Day grossed $874.8 million domestically and $2.24 billion worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of all time domestically and the sixth-highest-grossing worldwide.
Why I Ranked It #4: Spider-Man: Brand New Day highlights the strengths of shared-universe storytelling. It’s a sequel to Spider-Man: No Way Home that effectively weaves in The Hulk, the Punisher, and Yelena Belova, while also introducing Jean Grey of the X-Men. It also tells a standalone story and serves as a new entry point for viewers. Tom Holland easily gives his best performance as Spider-Man, and both he and Zendaya showcase their value to the franchise, as their presence certainly brought in a much wider audience.
3
‘Toy Story 5’ (June 19)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 3 (Domestic and Worldwide)
One guarantee of summer was that Toy Story 5 would be among the year’s most successful movies. Sure enough, the fifth entry in the beloved Pixar franchise delivered. Toy Story 5 opened to $159.6 million in its opening weekend, and grossed $478.4 million domestically and $1.12 billion worldwide as of this writing, making it the highest-grossing Toy Story film of all time.
Why I Ranked It #3: 31 years later, Toy Story remains one of the best film franchises. It has no bad entries, and the weakest film is a spin-off movie that can best be described as “fine.” Toy Story 5 showed that the franchise still has plenty of stories left to tell, touching on the topical subject matter of screen time in a film that doesn’t try to solve the problem. Like any great Pixar movie, it balances laugh-out-loud comedy, great characters, and emotionally powerful moments that are bound to make many tear up.
2
‘Disclosure Day’ (June 12)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 10 (Domestic and Worldwide)
Despite some hesitation about whether Steven Spielberg could still deliver a blockbuster, the legendary filmmaker’s sci-fi film beat films like Scary Movie, Supergirl, and Mortal Kombat II to round out the summer box office top 10. After an impressive $44 million opening weekend, Disclosure Day grossed $116 million domestically and $241.1 million worldwide. Like as was the case with Obsession, it’s great to see an original movie do well at the box office.
Why I Ranked It #2: Like many of Spielberg’s post-2000s films, Disclosure Day received a more mixed reaction. However, like A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, War of the Worlds, and Munich, Disclosure Day was likely ahead of its time and will be reevaluated in the coming years. It’s an exciting and thoughtful international conspiracy thriller with top-notch action from the man who set the template for the summer blockbuster. Disclosure Day ultimately culminates in an optimistic wish that the world could unite, if only for a brief moment, in a shared communal experience, much like going to the movies.
1
‘The Odyssey’ (July 17)
Summer Box Office Ranking: 2 (Domestic and Worldwide)
After Oppenheimer, there was no reason to doubt The Odyssey would be a box office smash hit. Since The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan has been one of the biggest names in blockbuster filmmaking, and The Odyssey was met with anticipation from the moment it was announced. Nobody could have expected The Odyssey to gross $553.2 million domestically and $1.462 billion worldwide. That makes it the second-highest-grossing film of 2026 so far and the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. It has outgrossed The Dark Knight to become Christopher Nolan’s highest-grossing film ever.
Why I Ranked It #1: Nolan is one of the best living filmmakers, and he makes thoughtful, introspective movies on a blockbuster scale that appeal to everyone. The Odyssey is a cinematic epic fitting one of the foundational myths in human history. Nolan’s version of The Odyssey has set a template that will be referenced and remembered for years. Despite having just won an Academy Award for Oppenheimer three years ago, Nolan has once again entered the Best Picture and Best Director races because The Odyssey is such a triumphant film. At this moment, it’s hard to argue he doesn’t deserve both.
