The conventional wisdom of movie release methodology operates according to a few time honored traditions. Fall is when the movie industry trots out its Oscar hopefuls in a bid for respectability and prestige. Winter is something of a dead period that still manages to produce a few hits. The summer movie season officially begins in May (sometimes a tad bit earlier) and ends on Labor Day. During that short amount of time where the days are longer and schools are closed, Hollywood unleashes the product that actually pays the bills.
It’s been business as usual so far at the summer box office. Some films have been received just as their parent studios intended, while others failed to connect. Fast 5 officially kicked the summer off, reuniting beloved characters from all four previous installments into a single stunt-filled extravaganza. It opened to the tune of $86 million and stalled out with an official tally of $208 million domestic, making it the most popular entry in the franchise so far. Critical reception was equally enthusiastic, with the film scoring much higher with critics than its immediate predecessor.
So far, The Hangover 2 holds the domestic box office crown for 2011. The worldwide box office gross has already surpassed that of the first film. Domestically, it’s trailing the original by less than 30 million. It’s clearly an unmitigated success, ensuring that the already tired franchise will get at least one more entry before audiences finally decide they’ve had enough. Another critically lambasted sequel, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, looks to usurp the throne when all is said and done. The third entry in the series had a soft opening day, leading many to predict that a disappointing run. That prognosis proved to be immature as the mighty machines roared to life over the July 4th weekend, collecting 180 Million dollars in admissions domestically.
This summer is crowded with superheroes. Thor, which had some of its thunder stolen by the better-than-expected reception of 
Fast 5, still managed to carve out a nice little niche for itself. The Marvel Studios production opened to a solid 65 million, and has thus far amassed a final gross of 178 million domestically. Not necessarily spectacular numbers, but more than enough to secure a sequel and justify the thunder god’s presence in the upcoming Avengers movie.
The superb X-Men: First Class wound up paying for the sins of previous lackluster mutant movies, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Fans were decidedly unhappy with those films, and thus skeptical about this franchise reboot. It made 55 million on route to a paltry tally of 139 million. Those numbers are somewhat troubling when looked at in light of the film’s 160 million production budget. However, the international gross of 195 million should provide a nice little cushion for the 20th Century Fox franchise. DVD will also provide gun shy moviegoers with a second opportunity to discover the film.
While Marvel has maintained a steady and robust presence at summer multiplexes, DC continues to fall further behind in the races. Warner Brothers’ 200 million dollar adaptation of Green Lantern fell flat with audiences. Since its June 17th release, the sci-fi/superhero epic has amassed a worldwide box office tally of only 137 million. Still, plans for a sequel have been announced. This does not bode well for the future of DC Entertainment. So far, every one of their properties outside of Christopher Nolan’s Batman films has failed to make a real impression with the public. Let’s hope that the upcoming Superman film can reverse that trend.
The rest of the summer has more than a few highlights. Captain America: The First Avenger has strong advance buzz, with early screenings eliciting enthusiastic results. It may just prove to be the superhero film of the summer. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will surely close that franchise out on a grand and epic note. Overseas tallies will expectedly be much larger than whatever the film will amass stateside. On July 29th, the superb monster movie Attack the Block will finally get a North American release. By the end of August, everyone can sit back and assess the damage. There will be some expected triumphs and some unexpected failures, along with a few unlikely success stories. Then it’s on to the Oscars once again.
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