It's the summer of sequels at the box office, with Disney's (DIS) Inside Out 2 crossing the $500 million mark domestically and Despicable Me 4 opening strong with $27 million. Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian joins Asking for a Trend to break down some of the key themes hitting movie theaters this summer.

Dergarabedian notes that the box office had a rather slow start to the summer, however, it started to pick up in early June with Bad Boys: Ride or Die opening beyond expectations at around $57.5 million. Then, animated features Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 helped pick up momentum as the industry recovers from its pandemic slump and last year's WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

He adds that going to the theater is "relatively inexpensive to other outside-of-the-home activities," and it provides a "communal and immersive experience" compared to streaming movies at home.

He points to the "Barbenheimer" craze last year as an excellent example of a communal experience and viral moment driving people to theaters. As Wicked and Gladiator II are both set to release on November 22 in the US, there could be another double-feature moment that emulates what happened with Barbie and Oppenheimer.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Asking for a Trend.

This post was written by Melanie Riehl