Since 'Jaws' launched the summer blockbuster era 40 years ago, the season has become a boxing ring for box-office supremacy. Here are some of the films that emerged as champions.
See the complete list of summer box office champs
See the complete list of summer box office champs
'Jaws' —
Released: June 20, 1975 Domestic Gross: $260,000,000 Foreign Gross: $210,653,000 Total Gross: $470,653,000See the complete list of summer box office champs
The big fish that started all the high-concept summer blockbuster insanity. In fact, until Jaws, summer was often viewed as a dumping ground (think August, these days) while winter was when studios debuted their hits. Partially due to a wide national release (as opposed to the then-traditional slow rollout of movies) and Universal's publicity blitz, Jaws opened with a $7 million take — the highest of the summer. It went on to rule the box office for 14 straight weeks, before Three Days of the Condor finally snapped the streak. It became the first film to top $100 million in U.S. box office and held the box-office record until Star Wars came along
See THR's guide to summer
'Star Wars' —
Released: May 25, 1977 Domestic Gross: $460,998,007 Foreign Gross: $314,400,000 Total Gross: $775,398,007See the complete list of summer box office champs
There's not much more to say about Star Wars that hasn't already been said. It broke every box-office record in 1977. So, here's a fun angle: The movie had amazing legs. It was released in May, dominated for several weeks and then slid down the U.S. charts (The Deep and The Rescuers both claimed the top spot for a couple of weeks). However, in both its ninth and 15th week of release it reclaimed the top spot at the U.S. box office, including the week of Oct. 2, more than four months after its initial release. Future movies did bigger numbers but nothing held America's attention for as long as Star Wars.
See THR's guide to summer
'E.T.' —
Released: June 11, 1982 Domestic Gross: $435,110,554 Foreign Gross: $357,800,000 Total Gross: $792,910,554See the complete list of summer box office champs
Spielberg went back-to-back as box-office champ and cemented himself as the most successful director in the world with E.T. Like Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. wasn't just a summer success, It was a global phenomenon that lasted all of 1982. It opened at No. 1 and stayed there, off and on, until December (it reclaimed the No. 1 spot in its 24th week of release and stayed there another week). Early in 1983, it surpassed Star Wars as the highest-grossing movie of all time.
See THR's guide to summer
'Ghostbusters' —
Released: June 8, 1984 Domestic Gross: $242,212,467 Foreign Gross: $53,000,000 Total Gross: $295,212,467See the complete list of summer box office champs
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg came back in May 1984 with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but their collective powers weren't enough to fend off a group of paranormal investigators who weren't afraid of no ghosts. Two weeks after Temple of Doom was released, Ghostbusters opened at No. 1 and stayed there for seven straight weeks until Prince came along and knocked it off with Purple Rain. While the sci-fi comedy owned the season, Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop edged it out for the year's highest gross.
See THR's guide to summer
'Beverly Hills Cop 2' —
Released: May 20, 1987 Domestic Gross: $153,665,036 Foreign Gross:$146,300,000 Total Gross: $299,965,036See the complete list of summer box office champs
For the first time since the modern blockbuster era started, 1987 marked the first time that the summer box-office champion wasn't at least the top one or two highest-grossing movies of the year. Beverly Hills Cop 2 still had a great summer. It had the highest opening weekend of the year, and its $33 million debut crushed Rambo: First Blood Part II's record for highest-grossing R-rated movie ($25.1 million). However, the summer champ lagged just behind Three Men and a Baby and Fatal Attraction for the year.
See THR's guide to summer
'Forrest Gump' —
Released: July 6, 1994 Domestic Gross: $330,252,182 Foreign Gross: $347,693,217 Total Gross: $677,945,399See the complete list of summer box office champs
Forrest Gump is the only film to have won the summer box office (five No. 1s in 10 weeks), the yearly box office (edging The Lion King) and the Oscar for best picture. Drop the mic, Forrest.
See THR's guide to summer
'Independence Day' —
Released: July 3, 1996 Domestic Gross: $306,169,268 Foreign Gross: $511,231,623 Total Gross: $817,400,891See the complete list of summer box office champs
The start of the summer belonged first to Twister and then to Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible. Both were ultimately outdone by the patriotic actioner, Independence Day, which came along on Fourth of July weekend and appropriately had that weekend's highest gross of all time. It stayed at number one for two more weeks and ruled the rest of the summer... and in fact, the rest of the year, earning $60M more than its nearest competitor, Twister.
See THR's guide to summer
'Shrek' —
Released: May 16, 2001 Domestic Gross: $267,665,011 Foreign Gross: $216,744,207 Total Gross: $484,409,218See the complete list of summer box office champs
Pixar had come close, but it was DreamWorks who finally delivered the first animated summer box office champ. Despite spending only opening weekend at number one, Shrek conquered the box office during the summer. It was ultimately the third highest grossing movie of that year behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
See THR's guide to summer
'The Dark Knight' —
Released: July 18, 2008 Domestic Gross: $533,345,358 Foreign Gross: $469,700,000 Total Gross: $1,004,558,444See the complete list of summer box office champs
Christopher Nolan's second installment in the Dark Knight Trilogy went toe to toe with Tony Stark in Iron Man and Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The Dark Knight became the fourth Batman film to win the summer box office, and set some records along the way. It topped Spider-Man 3's opening day ($67.1M) and weekend ($158.4M) records.
See THR's guide to summer
'Guardians of the Galaxy' —
Released: August 1, 2014 Domestic Gross: $333,176,600 Foreign Gross: $441,000,000 Total Gross: $774,176,600See the complete list of summer box office champs
Starlord and Rocket Raccoon left Optimus Prime (Transformers: Age of Extinction), the Ninja Turtles (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), sentient apes wielding machine guns on horseback (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), and even fellow Marvel heroes Captain America (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and Spiderman (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) in their wake as Guardians of the Galaxy became the highest grossing film of the summer and got audiences everywhere hooked on a feeling. Ooga-chakka! Additionally, it's the only film on this list to pull it off by opening in August.
See THR's guide to summer
