As the school year winds down and students prepare to leave classes for the next two months, no industry is more excited to learn that summer break has commenced around the country more than the Entertainment Industry. Ever since the release of “Jaws” in 1975 (now coming up on its 50th anniversary), the idea of the Blockbuster and its characteristics of fast-paced, crowd-pleasing films has fueled Hollywood and competing studios within LA into releasing some of their biggest movies of the year during the summer months. These movies provide box office returns that otherwise could not be seen during the academic school year. After COVID-19 nearly destroyed Hollywood (with the summer box office during 2020 falling 98.4%, earning a total of 71 million compared to the 4.3 billion earned in 2019), movies like “Top Gun Maverick” and the cultural phenomenon of Barbenheimer (in which two summer blockbusters, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” released on the same day to massive critical and financial success as was covered by The Charger) have largely been credited to bringing the summer blockbuster back to full recovery. However, after a wonderful 2023 Summer, which brought Hollywood collectively over 4 billion dollars, bringing the gross almost in line with pre-pandemic numbers, the industry saw quite a hiccup when it came to the Summer of 2024. Total Box Office numbers during the summer fell a substantial 10%, largely due to the underperformance of tentpole (studios’ largest movie releases of both the summer and entire year) blockbusters such as Warner Bros.’ “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (which made almost half of the total earning the previous installment “Max Max :Fury Road”) and Universal’s “The Fall Guy” as well as no massive box office success stories as seen in previous years. In all, the Summer of 2024 was considered lackluster and almost bare to moviegoers. As a reflection of that attitude, Hollywood suffered, but now as the Summer of 2025 approaches, both critical and casual moviegoers can recognize the excitement Hollywood is bringing to 2025.
Warner Bros.: Racing to the Finish Line and Rebooting the Man of Steel
Warner Bros has had, over the last year, some of the worst box office bombs in recent history, from “Joker 2” (called one of the worst movies of the year), to “Mickey 17” (which while favorable towards critics, still lost the company over $100 million). The company known for some of the most valuable IPs in history can’t seem to stop losing money and acquiring debt ever since its acquisition of the Discovery Channel back in 2022. However, this year seems to be quite the comeback for the company, as the two tentpoles that the studio is releasing this summer are projected to be the highest earners of the summer. Coming out on June 27 in the United States is the sports film, “F1,” starring Brad Pitt alongside Director Joseph Kosinski (whose previous credits include “Tron Legacy” and the aforementioned “Top Gun Maverick”). The film depicts retired Formula One racer Sonny Hayes (Pitt) as he is hired for the fictional 11th team Apex Grand Prix Team to mentor a prodigy Joshua Pearce (played by Damion Idris of “Snowfall” fame). What sets “F1” up for financial success is not only a dedicated fan base around the globe ready to see the sport portrayed on the silver screen, but state-of-the-art filming techniques used in the movie, as Kosinski encouraged the movie to rely on practical effects having the production film with actual Formula Cars coinciding with Formula One racing events around the globe, bringing an authentic feeling to the film and also bringing audiences closer to the action than ever before seen in racing movies. Warner Bros. also brings a brand new Superhero Universe to compete with the colossal Marvel Cinematic Universe (the MCU) in the form of the DC Universe (the DCU) with its first film “Superman” coming out July 11. After the controversial, critical and commercial failure that was DC’s first attempt at a larger cinematic universe, Warners Brothers have simply decided to start again with the new hired help of some of Marvel’s most popular talent in the Form of James Gunn and Peter Safen who most famously worked to create the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. The new Superman movie shows the character in a light that has rarely been seen by casual audiences since the original 1978 film, while previous depictions of Superman in movies have seen him either turn evil or become a man of questionable character, Director James Gunn has stated numerous times that he would like to bring Superman back in line with his comic counterpart stating that the thesis of his film was to show Superman as “the embodiment of truth, justice and the american way” and “a man who shows kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old-fashioned”. By showing true passion for the character and a talent that has brought some of the best superhero movies on the Market, Gunn and Safen hope to create a story and world that can not only be enjoyed by fans of any genre but a cinematic universe strong enough to challenge the behemoth that is the MCU.
Disney: Retreading Old Grounds and Reaching for the Stars
After a Killer 2024 with both its Summer Tentpoles, “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool and Wolverine” becoming the 1st and 2nd highest-grossing movies of the year, Disney hopes to repeat the same plan with its New Movies coming out. Releasing on May 23rd is the 23rd Live Action Disney Remake, “Lilo and Stitch”, hoping the bring in both fans of the original and new audience Disney has decided to play its safest gamble this year, which always brings in great box office numbers alongside outstanding merchandising earnings to match its early reactions to the film which is bringing in positive reception, something that these class of remake are rarely given. Releasing on July 25th is Marvel’s one giant leap towards a new future with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”. After getting the rights of the Fantastic Four from 20th Century Fox in 2017 in a buyout Marvel has been continuously been working on how to bring Marvel’s first family into the grand story of the MCU which would make this movie the fourth reboot of the team beginning with a hidden unreleased movie back in 1994 and ending with a reboot in 2015. Starting with “First Steps” Cast members Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss Bachrach bring award-winning talent and an amazing presence, as noted by both critics and fans from the footage that has been revealed so far. The film also brings excitement to the theatre as it is the last Marvel movie before the grand crossover event films of both Avengers Doomsday and Secret, which hopes alongside Fantastic Four hopes to recapture the excitement of audiences which seems to now vary in each Marvel theatrical release.
Universal: Training an Old Dragon New Tricks and Returning to a Jurassic Era
Universal Hopes to claim a top spot during the summer with two heavy hitters providing a large amount of the force. Coming out on June 13th is the Live Action remake of How to Train Your Dragon. While the idea of a live-action reboot brings negativity around it on the internet, it seems Universal has taken some notes on how to handle the adaptation. With a large amount of the creative team from the animated movie returning to help with the live action movie, such as the Director Dean Debois, the film has positioned itself fantastically for the summer box office, with great marketing following up to the release “How to train your Dragon” could very well be a smash hit for the big screen once again. Universal is also prepping for another franchise to bank its financial future as the Jurassic World Franchise returns from its hiatus with Jurassic World Rebirth releasing on July 2. Featuring an all-new cast with mainstream stars such as Scarlet Johanson(Avengers and Black Widow), Johnathan Bailey(Wicked and Bridgeton) Mahershala Ali(Moonlight and Green Book), location, and story, Director Gareth Edwards(who directed Star Wars: Rogue One ) hopes to continue the franchise’s expectations of providing great thrills to audiences alongside extreme box office success, with the last 3 Jurassic titles making over $1 billion in revenue.
