Las Vegas:
Half a century ago, in June 1975, Jaws swam to the theater, giving viewers a good terror and rewrites the film’s history.
The Shark Thriller became a smash hit in the first summer with Hollywood Studios’ continued playbook today.
Jaws is frequently sold and has created a buzz that positioned the film as a must-see event. It was a rampage-hit hit that changed the career of the young director, 26-year-old Steven Spielberg, and changed the scheduling of the film.
“Before Jaws there was actually no clearly defined summer film season,” said Paul Delgalavedian, senior film analyst at ComScore.
“There are big movies out there any time of the year, but there was never a summertime encapsulated what young people want to do. “It really changed everything.”
Star Wars went the same path in the summer of 1977, hitting the screens on the American Anniversary weekend. Spielberg debuted his first Indiana Jones film in June 1981.
Now, Hollywood packs many of its most ambitious films into theaters, from its first weekend in May to Labor Day in September.
That season accounts for around 40% of annual box office revenue in the US and Canada. In 2024, domestic theatres generated $3.7 billion in ticket sales during that time.
“Summer is something I look forward to in the film business,” said Doreen Seig, owner and operator of New Jersey’s 5-screen Cranford Theatre. “The hottest movies, the biggest blockbusters come out and when kids are home from school, we see a lot of families.”
Hollywood has resorted to this summer to reverse the downward trend. US and Canada ticket sales were 11% behind the same points last year, below pre-pandemic levels, according to ComScore data. Cinemas faces competition from home streaming services such as Netflix.
Big summer bet
This week, the film studio previewed its biggest summer bet at Cinemacon, the annual gathering of Las Vegas theater owners. Producer Jerry Brookheimer reminded the crowd that Top Gun: Maverick brought $1.5 billion worldwide in 2022.
“We’re here to tell you that we’re ready to do it again,” Brookheimer said the Warner Bros action film F1, starring Brad Pitt as the Formula 1 driver. “I believe this will be a summer movie-like event.”
Scheduled for June, F1 is one of the few budget original films in the sequel, reboot and franchise slate.
Walt Disney’s Marvel Studios previewed Thunderbolt, the story of an unrespecting team of superheroes starring Florence Pugh, David Harbor and Jurial Idreifus. Thunderbolts will begin the summer film season in May, with Marvel following up in Fantastic Four: The first step in July.
Warner Bros. promoted the new Superman directed by Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn. Actor David Corenswet will be wearing the famous Red Cape for the first time, part of the studio’s latest attempt at revitalizing DC comic films.
Universal Pictures from Comcast promoted the new dinosaur film Jurassic World: Rebirth starring Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey.
One of the film’s biggest champions, Tom Cruise, is Mission: Impossible – the final calculation, the final film in the action franchise.
Family movies and action
Sayegh said he was optimistic about upcoming family films, including the new Smurfs, a live-action remake of Dragon’s training methods, and SpongeBob’s film Search for Square Pant. Family films have been some of the top performers of Cineplex in recent years.
She was also impressed by the trailer for Mission: Impossible. This summer, “There’s a lot of adrenaline at once. I’m pretty excited about the slate I saw.”
Other film operators welcomed the full schedule after the pandemic and the uproar from the 2023 Hollywood strike, but complained that the studio should make the film more space. For example, F1 appears just five days before Jurassic World.
As people weighed summer entertainment options, Republican US President Donald Trump’s tariffs sparked fears of a global economic downturn. Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of trade agency Cinema United, said economic uncertainty from federal government policies could pose challenges for the film business.
“We are an industry that thrives with people who have discretionary income,” O’Leary said. “If there is uncertainty in the economic market, for some reason people tend not to use their discretionary income in any other way.”
As Hollywood begins editing receipts this summer, the familiar stars return to the big screen. Universal is planning to re-release Joe in theaters in late August to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Reuters
