DATA | HOLLYWOOD CHARTS, SEPTEMBER
U.S. grosses reach $7.64 billion, up 18.8%; five of Nielsen's overall top 10 are acquired shows with 100-plus episodes; two Korea-linked musicals sit in Broadway's top 20
U.S. box office reached $7.64 billion through Sept. 20, up 18.8% from $6.43 billion a year earlier, according to Rentrak data in The Hollywood Reporter's Charts hub, updated Sept. 25.
Theaters took in $2.44 billion over the same late-year stretch in 2025. Matching that would lift 2026 to about $10.08 billion — the first $10 billion year since 2019's $11.39 billion. Sony's Resident Evil opened to $60 million on Sept. 18-20, beating the studio's $40 million projection.
Streaming viewing has settled on older shows. Five of the ten titles in Nielsen's overall chart for Sept. 7-13 were acquired series, each with more than 100 episodes, and together they took 46.8% of the top 10's minutes. Prime Video's Reacher led for a fifth straight week above 1 billion minutes.
The same hits carried South Korea. Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey, the U.S. summer's top two, pushed Korea's August box office to ₩207 billion ($151 million), the best month of the year. On Broadway, The Great Gatsby, led by a Korean producer, and Maybe Happy Ending (어쩌면 해피엔딩), a musical created in Korea, both rank in the weekly top 20.
$7.64 billion so far, and $10 billion within reach
Annual U.S. grosses peaked at $11.91 billion in 2018 and held between $8.7 billion and $9 billion from 2023 to 2025. Warner Bros.' Practical Magic 2 was second on Sept. 18-20 with $12.2 million, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day reached $944.5 million domestic. The following weekend, Disney's re-release Avengers: Endgame Encore led with $26 million (TheWrap estimate, Sept. 26).
Half the top 10 is library
HBO Max's The Big Bang Theory was second with 971 million minutes, and Tyler Perry's Netflix film Why Did I Get Married Again? third with 908 million. Major Crimes, the former TNT drama added to Netflix on Sept. 3, debuted at 906 million across Netflix and Pluto TV. Nielsen has cut its streaming chart lag from 28 days to 11.
Football tops primetime; Dancing With the Stars has its best premiere in six years
NBC/Peacock's Sunday Night Football (Colts-Chiefs) led broadcast primetime in the third week of September with 24.29 million viewers, followed by Monday Night Football with 23.2 million. The Emmys drew 6.8 million, and ABC's Dancing With the Stars posted its best premiere in six years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Microdramas: 37 million views at No. 1; DramaBox places four
A ReelShort series led Owl & Co.'s Vertical Index for Sept. 14-20 with 37 million views, and DramaBox placed four titles in the top 10. The Hollywood Reporter noted a flood of AI-generated series in the sector. Sensor Tower ranks South Korea as the fourth-largest revenue market for short-drama apps, where Korea's own Vigloo is No. 3.
Broadway: Hamilton at $2.62 million; Gatsby at No. 10, Maybe Happy Ending at No. 20
Hamilton grossed $2,618,710 for the week ending Sept. 20. The Great Gatsby, the first Broadway show with a Korean sole lead producer, OD Company's Shin Choon-soo (신춘수), took $1,015,122 and passed 1,000 performances on Sept. 17. Maybe Happy Ending, by Will Aronson and Hue Park (박천휴), took $766,236.
Broadway weekly grosses, top 10 plus No. 20, week ending Sept. 20. Source: The Broadway League via The Hollywood Reporter
Korea: record August, then Korean films retake Chuseok
The Odyssey reached 11.69 million admissions in Korea by Sept. 26, a record for Christopher Nolan there. On Sept. 26, during the Chuseok holiday, Korean films Assassin(s) (암살자(들)) and Tazza: Beelzebub's Song (타짜: 벨제붑의 노래) ranked first and second, as daily admissions rose 154.1% from a week earlier to 993,421 (KOFIC).
Outlook: October openers and Nielsen's new base
October brings Digger and Verity on Oct. 2, The Social Reckoning and Other Mommy on Oct. 9, and three films including Street Fighter on Oct. 16. Another $2.36 billion would return the U.S. market to $10 billion. Nielsen's switch to DASH estimates with the new TV season will recalculate streaming and broadcast shares, and in Korea the first post-Chuseok weekend will show how much ground Korean films hold.
Sources
· The Hollywood Reporter, Charts (updated Sept. 25) — Rentrak, Nielsen, Owl & Co., The Broadway League, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h/charts/
· TheWrap, 'Avengers: Endgame Returns With $26 Million on Busy Box Office Weekend', Sept. 26, 2026
· Etoday (이투데이), August Korean box office; Econovill (이코노믹리뷰), Sept. 26 box office
· Financial Today (파이낸셜투데이), The Great Gatsby at 1,000 performances; Sensor Tower, Korea short-drama app market
Currency: $1 = ₩1,368.36 (Sept. 25, 2026 close). The 18.8% gain is calculated from Rentrak totals; The Hollywood Reporter shows 18%.