This summer's box office is running 10.8 percent behind last year's as we near the midway point.
That's not a shock. Last summer was the biggest in history, with $4.8 billion in domestic grosses. And while this year has its share of strong sequels, there's been nothing comparable to “Iron Man 3,” which topped $1 billion worldwide, or “Despicable Me 2,” which did nearly the same.
That said, there have been some major success stories.
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Fox's Marvel mutant mashup “X-Men: Days of Future Past” was the first summer movie to hit $200 million domestically and is still going, and the studio scored a counter-programming coup with teen drama “The Fault in Our Stars,” which has taken in $85 million — on a $12 million budget.
Also read: ‘X-Men’ Kicks Off Fox's Stellar Summer
Sony has bounced back from its very tough summer 2013 with “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” and “22 Jump Street.” And it has “Think Like a Man Too,” horror thriller “Deliver Us From Evil” and the Cameron Diaz comedy “Sex Tape” — all potential No. 1 movies — yet to come.
Disney gave up the May summer kick-off slot it's had for the past couple of years to Sony and Spidey, but scored with Angelina Jolie‘s fairy tale update, “Maleficent.”
Last year at this time, Warner Bros. had three of summer's top ten movies in “Man of Steel,” “The Great Gatsby” and “The Hangover Part III,” with “The Conjuring” and “We're the Millers” on the way. But this year, other than its Legendary Pictures co-production “Godzilla,” it has been tough sledding.
Tom Cruise‘s “Edge of Tomorrow” has been a domestic disappointment, Adam Sandler‘s comedy “Blended” missed and the Clint Eastwood-directed musical “Jersey Boys” isn't going to be breaking any records. “Jupiter Ascending,” the sci-fi epic from Andy and Lana Wachowski, has been pushed to February 2015.
Universal connected with one R-rated comedy, “Neighbors,” but Seth MacFarlane's “A Million Ways to Die in the West” was a misfire. The studio has five openings set for July and August.
Paramount and Lionsgate sat out the first half of summer, but the former is about to make a major splash with “Transformers: Age of Extinction” on June 27.
There's still more than two months left of summer left, so things will change. But here's what we've learned so far.
Marvel Means a Massive Box Office
The season's two highest-grossing movies so far are Fox's “X-Men: Days of Future Past” ($208 million domestically, $770 million worldwide) and Sony's “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” ( $199 million, $702 million worldwide) and both are based on the comic book giant's superheroes. Also, Disney's “Guardians of the Galaxy" is looking very strong ahead of its Aug. 1 debut.
Ignore Women at Your Own Peril
Predominantly female audiences have driven two movies — “Maleficent” and “The Fault in Our Stars” — to No. 1 openings in the middle of superhero season. And strong turnouts by women had a lot to do with the breakout first weekends of R-rated comedies “Neighbors” and “22 Jump Street.” Melissa McCarthy's comedy “Tammy,” which debuts on July 2, should continue the trend.
Release Dates Have Been Key
This summer has seen seven different movies open at No. 1 and no film has held the top spot for more than a week. You could say that's an indication that none of this season's tentpoles have been strong enough to dominate, and that's true. But give credit to the studios, who have done a great job of picking their opening dates and timing their marketing campaigns.
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