On May 7th, Iron Man 2 will officially kick off the 2010 summer movie season. Have you realized that’s less than a month away? Yesterday we reported that Iron Man 2 is tracking to possibly beat The Dark Knight’s all-time opening weekend box office record, though I also threw The Twilight Saga: Eclipse into consideration as well, especially since the second Twilight installment is in third place right now in terms of opening weekend numbers.
But which films will make the most money this summer? As all of these blockbusters fight for your hard-earned dollars, which ones will rise to the top and which will turn out to be disappointments (in terms of how much money they make)? Here are the five films I think will make the most money at the box office this summer (in order from top to bottom):
1. Iron Man 2 – It was a toss up between this and Eclipse, but while the latter will definitely do boffo business, I think Iron Man 2 will have more staying power in that it will gross the most money over a longer period of time than the third installment in the Twilight series. Unless, of course, the movie receives horrible buzz during its opening weekend, but somehow I don’t see that being possible.
2. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse -- Though it’s not in the top spot, Eclipse – and its positioning in theaters right before the July 4th weekend – should easily take the number two spot in box office totals this summer. Its predecessor killed at the box office, taking home all sorts of records, so we’ll look for Eclipse to do the sort of thing. Considering each Twilight film does better than the one before it, Eclipse could do even more business than we’re anticipating.
3. Toy Story 3 – I know it’s one of my most anticipated sequels, and seeing as the second installment took in a whopping $485 million worldwide (back in 1999, no less!), those lovable toys from Pixar should have no problem besting those numbers this summer.
4. Sex and the City 2 – Most of us were shocked when Sex and the City 2 did the kind of business it did two years ago ($415 million worldwide), though we never took into account how massive the built-in audience was from the HBO show. This was an “event” film for the female audience, who took it upon themselves to make seeing the film an event in and of itself -- heading to the theaters in droves, all dressed up, sippin’ cocktails along the way. Look for the sequel to earn even more, easily placing this among the top five biggest earners of the summer.
5. The Last Airbender – This film is my wild card, since I’m not exactly sure how well it will do. However, I do know that it has a really big built-in audience with lots and lots of fans looking forward to its release. That, plus a nice, comfy mid-summer opening – and some really spectacular-looking special effects – should give it enough of a boost to just make the top five.
Now it’s your turn – which five films do you think will make the most money during the summer movie season?
