{"id":527,"date":"2014-07-07T21:06:39","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T21:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/?p=527"},"modified":"2014-07-07T21:06:39","modified_gmt":"2014-07-07T21:06:39","slug":"the-rise-and-fall-of-the-4th-of-july-box-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2014\/07\/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-4th-of-july-box-office.html","title":{"rendered":"The Rise and Fall of the 4th of July Box Office"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Universal\"<\/a>
Universal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is a firmly held belief that Steven Spielberg\u2019s Jaws<\/em> was the beginning of the summer movie blockbuster trend. Before 1975, movies were not considered a big draw during the summer months. That all changed on June 20th<\/sup> of that year when Jaws<\/em> was released. Over the years, the benchmark to reach for big ticket sales was over the 4th<\/sup> of July weekend. For a while, it even appeared that in order to have a successful blockbuster opening on the 4th, you would need Will Smith to have a starring role. He has appeared in five of the biggest summer hits.<\/p>\n

Reports from all over are suggesting that this last weekend\u2019s sales were down 40% from last year. Some are blaming the lower numbers on the weather, however, beautiful weather has not kept moviegoers from seeing such hits as Independence Day<\/em> \u00a0or Spider-Man<\/em> in years past. Even some of Hollywood\u2019s worst bombs did fairly well on 4th<\/sup> of July weekend. This isn’t to say that all financially successful films are good. Many are just “so-so” or even downright offensive.<\/p>\n

This year, the \u201cwinner\u201d was the 4th<\/sup> installment of the Transformers<\/em> series and its second week in for Age of Extinction<\/em> ($55 million) followed by Tammy<\/em> ($32 million), 22 Jump Street<\/em> and Deliver Us from Evil<\/em> (both about $14 million). Those numbers don\u2019t sound that bad until you compare them to the top 12 of previous years:<\/p>\n

\"Transformers:<\/a>
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the top grossing 4th of July movie of all time. (Universal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $97,852,865 (2011)<\/p>\n

2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Spider-Man 2 – $88,156,227 (2004)<\/p>\n

3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Despicable Me 2 – $83,517,315\u00a0\u00a0 (2013)<\/p>\n

4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Transformers – $70,502,384\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (2007)<\/p>\n

5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 War of the Worlds – $64,878,725 (2005)<\/p>\n

6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – $64,832,191\u00a0 (2010)<\/p>\n

7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hancock – $62,603,879 (2008)<\/p>\n

8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Amazing Spider-Man – $62,004,688\u00a0 (2012)<\/p>\n

9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Superman Returns – $52,535,096 (2006)<\/p>\n

10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Men in Black II – $52,148,751 (2002)<\/p>\n

11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Men in Black – $51,068,455 (1997)<\/p>\n

12\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Independence Day – $50,228,264 (1996)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is a firmly held belief that Steven Spielberg\u2019s Jaws was the beginning of the summer movie blockbuster trend. Before 1975, movies were not considered a big draw during the summer months. That all changed on June 20th of that year when Jaws was released. Over the years, the benchmark to reach for big ticket…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":558,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[503,505,1091,504,506],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies","tag-jaws","tag-july-2014","tag-movies","tag-summer-blockbusters","tag-transformers"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Rise and Fall of the 4th of July Box Office - Peanuts and Popcorn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2014\/07\/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-4th-of-july-box-office.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Rise and Fall of the 4th of July Box Office - Peanuts and Popcorn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is a firmly held belief that Steven Spielberg\u2019s Jaws was the beginning of the summer movie blockbuster trend. 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