"Barbenheimer" and the Return of the Summer Blockbuster | Part 2
/We are back with part two of our look at summer blockbusters that has experienced quite the reawakening since the pandemic. Led by "Barbenheimer," the weekend of July 21-23 broke the $300 million mark at the box office for the first time since 2019.
If you're looking to escape the heat and watch summer blockbusters in your air-conditioned home, then check out some of these offerings as we take a look back at the history of the summer blockbuster. And be sure to read part 1[1] first for even more fun summer viewing.
2000s: The Era of the Billion-Dollar Summer Blockbuster
In the first few years of the 21st century, summer blockbusters routinely flirted with breaking the $1 billion mark worldwide. In May of 2000, the two highest-grossing films of the year were released – "Mission: Impossible II" and eventual Best Picture winner "Gladiator." One year later, "Shrek" came out and showed the power of kids' movies to pack a theater. None of these May releases, however, came close to the billion-dollar mark.
In May of 2002, "Spider-Man" ushered in a new era of superhero film, dominating the box office and eventually pulling in nearly $822 million worldwide. Two weeks later "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" came out and would also fall short, earning $645 million. In 2003, May again proved to be the month of choice for the top-grossing summer release, as Disney/Pixar's "Finding Nemo" filled theaters, earning $871 million. Two months later, Disney released its second blockbuster of the summer, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."
In the summer of 2004, sequels of previous blockbusters – "Shrek 2," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," and "Spider-Man 2" – performed admirably but couldn't quite crack $1 billion, with "Shrek 2" coming closest with more than $928 million. The next summer, yet another sequel topped the box office, with "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" earning $868 million worldwide. Finally, in 2006 a sequel broke through with "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" becoming the fastest film to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The third film in the trilogy, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" would rule the following summer, as would "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," though both fell short of the billion-dollar bar.
In May of 2008, Marvel released its first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), "Iron Man," which performed very well but not well enough to rule the summer. Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" released two months later proved that DC Comics had their own superhero who could fill theaters and bring in over $1 billion at the box office. The next summer, the boy wizard returned, with "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" earning nearly $934 million. A pair of kids' films – "Up" and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" – also performed exceptionally well that summer, as did "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."
2010s: Sequels, Superheroes, and More Sequels
Released in June of 2010, "Toy Story 3" was the first billion-dollar summer blockbuster of the decade, continuing the trends of children's films and sequels dominating the box office. Christopher Nolan, who is currently riding high with "Oppenheimer" and broke records with "The Dark Knight," had another big hit in 2010, as his original film "Inception" was the second-highest grossing summer release, earning more than $825 million worldwide.
In the summer of 2011, three sequels – "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" – all earned more than $1 billion at the box office, marking the first time a summer produced more than one such blockbuster. A year later, "The Avengers" became the first film in the MCU to gross over a billion, earning over $1.5 billion worldwide. Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" also broke the billion-dollar barrier that summer.
The next few summers would continue the trend of superhero films and their sequels (and children's films and their sequels) dominating, as "Iron Man 3" and "Despicable Me 2" made big bucks in the summer of 2013. A year later, Marvel had another hit with "Guardians of the Galaxy," while "Transformers: Age of Extinction" topped all releases. In 2015, "Jurassic World" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron" showed that big-budget action sequels could still reliably crush the competition.
In 2016, several children's films put up a fight against the superheros, with "Finding Dory" topping the year-end domestic box office and earning over a billion worldwide. "The Secret Life of Pets" brought in $875 million over the summer months, and two additional children's films released earlier in the year – "Zootopia" and "The Jungle Book" – also finished in the year's top five. However, these films were no match for "Captain America: Civil War," which topped the worldwide box office for the year and ruled the summer.
The following summer, big-budget superhero films would continue to attract filmgoers, with "Spider-Man: Homecoming," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," and "Wonder Woman" topping the charts in the summer of 2017. However, only one summer release would break the billion-dollar barrier that year – "Despicable Me 3." In 2018, the summer blockbuster arrived early, as "Avengers: Infinity War" was released in late April; it remained in the top five into June and ended the year earning more than $2 billion worldwide. That same summer also saw two films released a week apart in June – "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" and "Incredibles 2" – break the billion-dollar mark. The decade ended on a high note, with the late April release of "Avengers: Endgame" setting a new box office record of nearly $2.8 billion in 2019. That summer would see several films earn more than a billion, including two live-action Disney remakes – "The Lion King" and "Aladdin" – and sequels "Spider-Man: Far From Home" and "Toy Story 4."
2020s: The Pandemic Kills the Summer Blockbuster… Temporarily
In 2020 and 2021, no film released in the summer managed to crack the $1 billion mark. However, in 2022 the summer blockbuster returned in full force, as four of the five highest-grossing films of the year (all sequels) were released in the summer – "Top Gun: Maverick," "Jurassic World Dominion," "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," and "Minions: The Rise of Gru."
Could 2023 be the year that sequels finally give way for original films? The success of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" show that anything is possible.
