Cinemas worldwide have enjoyed a record-breaking summer, driven largely by two blockbusters starring newlyweds Tom Holland and Zendaya. US cinemas recorded their biggest ever May-to-September period, taking $4.761bn (£3.51bn), narrowly surpassing the previous record set in 2013, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey the standout performers.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has taken $2.4bn globally and is now the third highest-grossing film of all time, having crossed $1bn in just six days. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has made $1.6bn and is the year's top-grossing original film, while Toy Story 5, Michael and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie have also passed $1bn. In the UK, August admissions rose 56% year-on-year to over 17m, the best August since 2018, though this was dwarfed by an 88% surge across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands all posting exceptional gains. Sequels such as Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, Supergirl and Minions & Monsters underperformed by comparison.