Over half of the top studios' 2025 films are based on existing intellectual property.

• The 2024 box office has been flooded with sequels, prequels, and remakes, with the top 10 films of the year being adaptations of existing intellectual property.
• In 2025, the top studios in the industry are turning to well-known characters and settings to boost movie ticket sales.
• Between 50% and 70% of the movies from the six major studios will be based on existing intellectual property next year.

Hollywood's franchise frenzy is only just beginning.

In 2025, the 2025 box office will continue and expand the trend of being flooded with sequels, prequels, and remakes, with the top 10 films of the year being based on existing intellectual property.

Familiar characters and settings are being utilized by the industry's top studios to boost movie ticket sales, a strategy that has been employed for a long time but is currently experiencing exponential growth.

The 2025 calendar for the six major studios, including , , , , and , is expected to have between 50% and 70% of their movies related to existing IP. However, the final slate is not yet set and studios may add more non-franchise titles in the coming months and into next year.

According to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, studios have acknowledged that audiences tend to prefer well-known movies.

Only two of the top 20 highest-grossing domestic releases in 2024 are considered original content - Paramount's "IF" and Neon's "Longlegs."

The sequels to major blockbuster features, new and old, or tied to a popular book, television show, or historical figure are being produced by Sony, Universal, and Paramount.

Franchise titles heavily relied on the domestic box office even before Hollywood was disrupted by the pandemic and streaming content. In 2019, franchise films accounted for between 33% and 62% of total releases for Universal, Warner Bros., Sony, Lionsgate, Paramount, and 20th Century Fox (which had not yet merged with Disney). Disney was the only outlier, with nine of its 10 films coming from established IP.

With consumers becoming increasingly selective about their spending, studios have turned to producing sequels, prequels, and remakes to attract their attention.

In the animation industry, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of sequels being produced, with notable examples including Disney and Pixar's "Inside Out 2," as well as Universal's "Despicable Me 4" and "Kung Fu Panda 4."

"According to Dergarabedian, family audiences who prioritize affordability when deciding whether to purchase a movie ticket often prefer the comfort of familiar surroundings. This trend appears to be extending across all age groups, with adult audiences also utilizing this reasoning."

Just look at the last quarter of the year:

The domestic box office has reached $6.3 billion through the first nine months of the year, thanks to successful titles such as "Deadpool & Wolverine," "Inside Out 2," "Despicable Me 4," and some breakout hits.

Although the 2023 writers and actors strikes halted production and pushed many titles to 2025, the 2024 slate is still better than expected.

"According to Shawn Robbins, founder and owner of Box Office Theory, 2025 will represent the continuation of the IP-and-nostalgia-driven Hollywood status quo. However, he emphasized that this is not necessarily a negative thing, as many recent box office hits have been sequels or films based on existing brands. Additionally, there is still a variety of original content available."

Despite having franchise-rich movie slates in 2024 and 2025, Wall Street predicts that domestic ticket sales will not surpass $10 billion until 2026. Since 2019, before the Covid pandemic, the domestic box office has not reached this benchmark, with last year's revenue falling just short of $9 billion.

The 2025 movie calendar concludes with a third Avatar film in mid-December, leading to ticket sales continuing into 2026. The summer of 2026 begins with an Avengers team-up film, followed by a "Mandalorian" Star Wars movie over Memorial Day weekend. Another Star Wars film will end Disney's big year in December 2026.

The year 2026 is expected to have a massive box office with the release of "Super Mario Bros. Movie," "Toy Story 5," "Shrek 5," another Hunger Games film, "Supergirl," "Batman: The Riddler," "Dune 3," and "The Flash."

In recent years, non-franchise films have been successful at the box office, despite Hollywood's major studios relying on familiar titles to attract audiences.

Robbins stated that next year will feature new original films from filmmakers such as Jordan Peele, Paul Thomas Anderson, J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot production company, and Ryan Coogler, which could stand out amidst a variety of franchise films.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.