io9: Summer Movies

Which Summer Movie Chick Could Carry Her Own Spinoff?

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:22:00 PDT

You might have noticed a distinct lack of female heroes at the movies this summer, Sex And The City aside. It's almost as if the studios decided women couldn't carry a big movie — but nah, I'm sure it's just a coincidence. Luckily, the summer's big movies have a wealth of female supporting leads, and almost any one of them could carry a movie of their own. (Let's just pretend Catwoman and Elektra never existed, 'kay?) Which one of these sidekicks deserves to kick up her heels in her own film?

Which Big Summer Movie Ruined Science Fiction Forever?

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:00:00 PDT

With more big summer spectacles exploding, laser-blasting and CGI-ing all over the place, is serious, thoughtful science fiction being pushed out? Have movies like Transformers or Star Wars tractor-beamed the genre of science fiction away from perceived as serious literature, even in the book world? And which giant battle cruiser of a movie deserves the most blame for turning the genre into an amusement park ride instead of an exploration of our place in the universe? Vote for your scapegoat below.

When Did Summer Become Science Fiction Overkill Season?

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:09:00 PDT

This summer will be the biggest "blockbuster" movie season ever, with no fewer than 23 would-be smash hits coming out between early May and mid-August. It didn't used to be this way. Back in the mists of time — like, say, in the late 1990s — there were only one or two big science fiction movies per summer, and only a handful of huge summer movies total. But summer movies have gotten bigger and more franchise-driven in the past decade, and science fiction is at the center of that transformation. We chart the rise of summer-movie gridlock, with a list of every summer scifi hit since 1980.

The 1970s: 1975's Jaws is widely considered the first summer blockbuster. The original Star Wars came out in May 1977 and grossed about $307 million domestically in its first run. The other big summer blockbusters of the late 1970s were Jaws 2, Animal House and Alien, according to this site.

The 1980s: Science fiction scored about one summer blockbuster per year, or maybe two in a good year. Except for the late 1980s, when science fiction had a bit of a slump. Here's the roundup, by year. (A year with an asterisk is one where no science fiction film hit the top 10 movies of the year, box-office-wise.)

1980: Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back ($209 million)
1981: Superman II ($108 million)
1982: E.T. ($359 million) and Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan ($79 million).
1983: Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi ($252 million), Superman III ($60 million) and War Games ($80 million)
1984: Ghostbusters ($260 million) and Star Trek III: The Search For Spock ($76 million)
1985: Cocoon ($76 million) and Back To The Future ($211 million)
1986: Short Circuit ($41 million) and Aliens ($85 million)
* 1987: Predator ($60 million) and Robocop ($53 million)
* 1988: None. (Although Big and Willow were big summer hits.)
1989: Batman ($251 million), Honey I Shrunk The Kids ($131 million)

The 1990s: The number of science fiction movies in the summer's biggest movies increased slightly, with some ups and downs. Some years, the biggest blockbusters included films with a lot of special effects and action-adventure themes, but no overt science fictional elements.

1990: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($135 million), Total Recall ($119 million), Back To The Future Part III ($88 million), Flatliners ($61 million).
1991: Terminator 2 ($205 million)
1992: Batman Returns ($163 million)
1993: Jurassic Park ($357 million)
* 1994: None. (Although True Lies, Speed and The Mask were in the top 10, and non-summer films Stargate and Star Trek: Generations were in the top 20.)
1995: Batman Forever ($184 million), Apollo 13 ($172 million), Waterworld ($88 million)
1996: Independence Day ($306 million), Phenomenon ($105 million)
1997: Men In Black ($251 million), The Lost World: Jurassic Park ($229 million), Face/Off ($112 million), Batman And Robin ($107 million)
1998: Armageddon ($202 million), Deep Impact ($140 million), Godzilla ($136 million), The Truman Show ($126 million)
1999: Star Wars Episode 1 ($431 million), Wild Wild West ($114 million)

The 2000s: It's really just in the last five years that we've seen more than two or three big science fiction movies dominating the summer pretty much every year. A lot of these have been franchises, comic-book movies and sequels, or some combination of the three. The box-office take of the top 10 movies has increased dramatically, with every year's top 10 movies each grossing well over $100 million.

2000: X-Men ($157 million)
2001: Jurassic Park III ($181 million), Planet of The Apes ($180 million)
2002: Spider-Man ($404 million), Star Wars Episode II ($302 million), Signs (228 million), Men In Black II ($190 million)
2003: The Matrix Reloaded ($282 million), X2: X-Men United ($215 million), Terminator 3 ($150 million), Hulk ($132 million)
2004: Spider-Man 2 ($374 million), The Day After Tomorrow ($187 million), I, Robot ($145 million)
2005: Star Wars: Episode III ($380 million), War Of The Worlds ($234 million), Batman Begins ($205 million), Fantastic Four ($155 million)
2006: X-Men: The Last Stand ($234 million), Superman Returns ($200 million)
2007: Spider-Man 3 ($337 million), Transformers($319 million), The Simpsons Movie ($183 million), Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer ($132 million)

Note: Data is from BoxofficeMojo.com. Dollar figures aren't adjusted for inflation. I left out movies like the original Indiana Jones trilogy, which is clearly fantasy. (Unlike the new Indiana Jones movie, if all reports are to be believed.) I also left out spy movies that might have a few science-fiction touches aren't really about a science-fictional premise. Feel free to bitch at me in the comments.

What'll Be The Most Surprising Hit Movie Of The Summer?

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:20:23 PDT

Out of a dozen or so scifi movies coming out this summer, only four of them are absolutely bulletproof, according to you, our readers. Ten of this summer's science fiction films are in danger of falling into obscure-cult-classic territory — or worse. But there's also an excellent chance that at least one underdog will become a smash hit that nobody could have predicted. Which movie do you think will be the most surprising hit of the summer?

Note: You're really kind of voting for two things here. Which of these movies will be the biggest hit, and the most surprising hit? I wouldn't personally be that surprised if Incredible Hulk does well, but I'm including it because many commenters yesterday saw it as having weak buzz. Meanwhile, I would be stunned if Babylon A.D. played to more than a handful of confused Babylon 5 fans, despite the awesome presence of Vin Diesel and Michelle Yeoh.

So what's the biggest sleeper hit of 2008?

Which Summer Movie Will Be The Biggest Flop?

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:51:34 PDT

This summer movie season will be like a traffic jam of Transformers wannabes, with more sequels and potential franchises coming out than ever before. And it's just barely possible that every single one of these films will be a mega-smash hit. It just doesn't seem very likely somehow. Click through to vote for the biggest box-office disappointment of summer 2008.

Note: I left out some smaller movies and some films that we know will probably bomb, like Eddie Murphy's Starship Dave. I also left out M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, which seems likely to bomb, even though I don't want to diss the Wahlberg. I wanted to avoid including any movie that was such an obvious choice, it would get a landslide vote. Plus, I'm not sure either Starship Dave or The Happening is really intended to be a summer blockbuster, or if they're more like counter-programming hoping to score a niche audience.

Also, this seems to be as good a place as any to ask: Is Get Smart science fiction? Should we be covering it?

The Biggest (And Longest) Movie Summer Ever

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:30:34 PDT

The summer movie season now officially begins in early May, thanks to last year's blockbuster May releases: Spider-Man 3, Shrek The Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. This May, there are no fewer than 23 movies coming out, including "tentpole" films Iron Man, Speed Racer, Narnia and Indiana Jones. And the schedule is overcrowded with wannabe blockbusters all summer long, raising the chances that we'll see some high-profile flops. [Variety]

No Star Trek In Your Stocking This Year

Kevin Kelly — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:20:23 PST

Those teaser posters that claim Star Trek will beam into theaters this Christmas will be collector's items some day. Paramount has delayed the film until the summer of 2009. The 2008 summer crop of films looks like a geek traffic jam: Iron Man, Indiana Jones IV, The Dark Knight, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy 2, X-Files 2, Quantum of Solace, and Wall-E will all be competing for your box office bucks. But Trek's only real competition in summer 2009 may be the Wolverine movie and Angels and Demons, the Da Vinci Code prequel. It's also possible that with the writers' strike finally over, J.J. Abrams hopes to do some rewrites and reshoots.