Author: Keven Mawn

With the arrival of several major films this summer, the box office was in a position to expect some very interesting financial figures.

The box office racked up no less than US$3.53 billion between May 1 and August 24. Hollywood’s objective was to break the $4 billion (US) barrier for the second time since the pandemic.

Only 2023, with the release ofOppenheimer and Barbie, exceeded $4G (US) during this period.

In fact, the summer period is the most profitable for the box office, accounting for 40% of annual revenues, but with this period drawing to a close, the mission will not be accomplished this year. Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian notes that the summer movie ecosystem is unstable, and believes that Hollywood will have to rethink its recipe to keep audiences interested for years to come.

On a positive note, with $3.53 billion (US) so far, 2025 has beaten 2024’s $3.52 billion (US).

Among the summer’s most profitable films, Lilo & Stitch topped the list with $421M (US) in North America and $1.03B (US) worldwide. It’s the only summer film to top the billion-dollar mark.

For the others, Jurrasic Rebirth with $844M (US), How to Train Your Dragon with $626M (US), Superman with $604M (US) and F1: The Movie with $603M (US) were also successful globally.

On the other hand, Marvel failed to repeat its past success with big titles, including Thunderbolts* with $382M (US) and The Fantastic Four: First Steps with $471M (US). Also, Elio with $150m (US), Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning with $597m (US) and M3GAN 2.0 at $39m (US) failed to live up to box-office expectation

August, September and October are seen as quieter months for the box office, so the end of the year looks slow, according to David A. Gross, of Franchise Entertainment Research. 2025 should, however, be able to beat 2024 in revenues by the end of the year, according to Gross.

In 2022, Roger Federer, at the end of an extraordinary career on the ATP circuit, has decided to hang up his tennis racket.

This doesn’t mean the Swiss isn’t still the talk of the town, as he’s just joined a select club: that of billionaire.

The former world number one has a net worth calculated at 1.1 billion US dollars, according to Forbes.

In fact, he is the richest tennis personality on the planet, even though he retired several years ago.

Lucrative endorsements and a stake in shoe brand On have made the Swiss star just the seventh athlete in the three-comma club—and a food tech investment may serve up another payday. https://t.co/1e8BqLZsaD (Photo: Richard Shotwell/Invision via Associated Press) pic.twitter.com/szrLpLvX2z

— Forbes (@Forbes) August 24, 2025

As a professional tennis player, Federer earned around $131 million (US) in prize money, just behind Rafael Nadal in second place with $135 million (US) and Novak Djokovic with $189 million (US) in first place.

Federer has, however, been involved in a number of large-scale projects that have added millions of dollars to his fortune, with the Swiss Shoe brand and his On clothing company. Added to this are powerful sponsors over the years, including Nike, Lindt, Mercedez-Benz, Rolex and Moët & Chandon.

Winner of 20 Grand Slams, Federer is one of only seven athletes in history to have earned the label of pre-tax billionaire by being active in his sport, according to Forbes. He ranks alongside LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Floyd Mayweather.

What’s more, he became only the seventh athlete of all time to officially join the three-comma club, having been surpassed by Ion Tiriac, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Junior Bridgeman, LeBron James and Tiger Woods.

His off-court investments have paid off as much in his bank account as in terms of popularity, with a 2.3% increase in engagement on his social networks, unlike Djokovic with 1.2% and Nadal with 0.5%.

The Maestro, even in retirement, is clearly not sitting still!

Are you familiar with Labubu products from China?

These plush toys, created by Kasing Lung, have been all the rage around the world, particularly over the past year, thanks to their many products, including key chains.

The Pop Mart company, manufacturers of these plush toys, has published its mid-year financial report, and sales are up 204% on the previous year, with profits up 362%. Pop Mart’s plush products as a whole boosted the company’s revenues in 2025 by 1200%, good for $854M (US).

In fact, Labubus generated no less than $670M (US) in the first half of 2025, an increase of 668% compared to the same period in 2024. These figures beat those of other popular toys at the same date, including Barbie with $374 million and Hot Wheels with $626 million (US). Labubus is expected to reach $1 billion in net value very soon, according to Wired.

Pop Mart, the Chinese company behind the Labubu franchise, has sold $670 million worth of related products so far this year—more than iconic US toy lines Barbie and Hot Wheels. https://t.co/yH8SH7j11p

— WIRED (@WIRED) August 19, 2025

These are the most popular products at Pop Mart, which has 571 stores worldwide, accounting for almost 35% of the company’s sales. As of June 2025, 40% of Pop Mart’s sales came from outside China, including a huge ratio in the United States, with sales of $315 million (US) in the first half of the year.

Celebrities such as Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian were seen this summer with these items in their bags, creating a viral effect on social networks.

Travis Kelce ‘s marriage proposal to Taylor Swift has been doing the rounds on Instagram, garnering over 33 million likes under her post.

It’s the topic of the hour, and the news has had a major impact on their popularity with their respective fans.

As reported by Forbes through data shared by Fanatics, sales of Travis Kelce’s Chiefs jerseys have exploded by 200% since the couple’s engagement was announced.

Also, Taylor Swift saw her Spotify numbers quadruple thanks to the song So High School, which jumped 400% in terms of listens. The country singer is now the most listened-to artist on the platform, thanks in particular to Fortnight, Lover and Style.

Travis Kelce's jersey sales spikes by 200%: https://t.co/vq0agJDWJn pic.twitter.com/sHd7PIPAeU

— Forbes (@Forbes) August 28, 2025

What’s more, in the 24 hours following the announcement, Kelce added no less than 777,000 new subscribers on her social networks, while her fiancée now has 1.2 million more to her credit.

Quite a marketing coup for the lovebirds!

Ahead of the Italian premiere of Jay Kelly, Adam Sandler and George Clooney were welcomed like royalty at the Venice Film Festival.

The two lead actors received a standing ovation lasting over eight minutes at the end of the screening, giving themselves a good chance of being nominated for an Oscar, according to Variety.

And despite the sinus infection that caused him to miss the start of the festivities, Clooney looked in fine form.

"Jay Kelly" starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler earns a 8.5-minute standing ovation at the #VeniceFilmFestival.https://t.co/jbjo4PLk9a pic.twitter.com/eOi1afPBQS

— Variety (@Variety) August 28, 2025

The release date in selected cinemas is November 14, while its arrival on Netflix is expected on December 5.

The long-awaited sequel to The Devil Wears Prada will hit cinemas on May 1, 2026, some 20 years after the creation of the first opus.

Anne Hathaway is back in the role ofAndrea Sachs, currently shooting her scenes.

A funny sequence of the actress circulating on the Web shows her breaking one of her heels and stomping down the steps.

Diva down! 😭 Anne Hathaway took a tumble while filming 'The Devil Wears Prada 2,' but handled it with absolute grace. ✨ pic.twitter.com/rCFkC31OcF

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) August 28, 2025

Hathaway got up immediately, with no apparent injury.

Hathaway had also taken a similar fall in the first film, as she pointed out on Instagram.

So was this fall premeditated after all?

It’s now official: Donald Trump and the PGA Tour have reached an important agreement.

According to reports, the PGA Tour will return to Trump National Doral for the first time since 2016, as part of the 2026 Miami Championship. The organization had decided to withdraw its presence from the course during Trump’s first term in office, almost 10 years ago, in favor of Mexico City.

In fact, the competition will take place from April 30 to May 3, 2026, and has even been labelled as one of the nine signature events of the coming season. Only the best qualified players will be able to take part in the tournament. This is the first time since 2023 that the PGA will have more than eight signature tournaments.

Over the past year, Jay Monahan, the former PGA Tour Commissioner, as well as star players such as Rory McIlroy, have been seen at the White House, in order to build a relationship of trust with the President. Specifically, the PGA asked Trump to mediate a prospect pact with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Both parties are seeking to unify the sport, but a difference in vision would throw a wrench into the process. The PGA Tour would like only one professional circuit, as opposed to two for LIV Golf.

However, all indications are that the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund are far from an agreement, following a meeting at the White House with PFI Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan last February. To compensate, Monahan had declared the possibility of seeing the PGA Tour return to Trump National Doral.

Once called the Doral Country Club, its name changed to Trump National Doral when Donald Trump made it his property in 2012. And before their association came to an end in 2016, the PGA had been staging tournaments on the course since 1962.

So this will be a return to its roots for the PGA, but a first with Trump in power!

US President Donald Trump held a press conference at a meeting of his Cabinet, and reacted to the engagement of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

Trump notably wished the couple the best of luck, to everyone’s surprise.

President Trump on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce engagement: "I wish them a lot of luck. I think he's a great player. I think he's a great guy and I think that she's a terrific person, so I wish them a lot of luck." pic.twitter.com/xMd8wgMTZW

— CSPAN (@cspan) August 26, 2025

Why a surprise?

In the past, Trump hasn’t been the most tender towards the pop singer, having openly shown hatred towards her on several occasions, due to Taylor Swift’s support for Kamala Harris during the last elections.

Donald Trump posts on Truth Social: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”

No context in Trump’s post, but of course this comes after Swift’s endorsement of Harris.

(And yes, this is real.) pic.twitter.com/XWkc02FltT

— Elizabeth Wagmeister (@EWagmeister) September 15, 2024

Trump had already gone so far as to say that he much preferred Patrick Mahomes‘ wife, Brittany, due to his preference for the Republican Party. The septuagenarian also issued a warning to Taylor Swift, firmly believing that her music’s popularity would take a hit (which it didn’t).