As we step further into holiday season, the all-too-familiar argument of which movie to watch with miscellaneous relatives — young, old, sometimes conflicting — will once again rear its head.
This festive period, it’s likely that the kids will get their way, given PG movies comprise many of 2025’s biggest hits; though it’s not as probable that they’ll be allowed to stay up while the rest of the family settles in for one of several box office-topping horror films from this year.
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We’re in the midst of a golden era for the family-friendly flick, as detailed in a WSJ piece last week. Indeed, the incredible success of PG-rated films like “Lilo & Stitch” and “A Minecraft Movie” in recent months could likely be matched, or even bested, by new “Wicked” and “Zootopia” installments.
However, just as animated youngsters have dragged their parents to singalongs and spin-offs on the big screen, the overwhelmingly R-rated horror genre has been another frighteningly bright spot in an otherwise inconsistent year for movies.
Sherwood News
Although PG-rated movies, per data from The Numbers, have seen their share of domestic box-office ticket sales drop to 31.7% at the time of writing since overtaking PG-13s last year, R-rated movies have captured a 34.5% share to date in 2025.
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The box office was once dominated by PG-13s — a genre “just edgy enough to appeal to movie-loving youngsters but nowhere near grizzly enough to give them sleepless nights,” as we noted last December.
This year, however, with G-rated films effectively becoming extinct, titles that cater to the two more extreme ends of the demographic spectrum are clearly matching the pull of PG-13s. Still, despite their mainstream appeal, R-rated horror and PG-rated movies don’t often attract any real Best Picture Oscar buzz — though that could change this awards season with fan favorite “Sinners.”