Summer doesnt seem an ideal time for people to sit in a dark room – wouldnt winter be better? More generally, why are some times of year seen as more auspicious for a film release?
In: 3
Everyone here is giving good reasons for why the summertime blockbuster was a thing. What I think is interesting is how Marvel/Disney have shown you can release a big movie whenever you want and if people want to see it, it will be a blockbuster.
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_opening_weekend/
9 of the top 10 movies with the biggest opening weekend all time (not adjusted for inflation so yes, recent movies do better, couldn’t find a list like this adjusted for inflation) are Disney/Marvel movies (actually it’s 16 of the top 17 are Disney/Marvel). The interesting thing though is 3 of the top 5 and 4 of the top 10 had winter releases, 3 in December and 1 in February. The other 6 were from late April to July.
In 11-20, there’s another December and a November, but 6 of the 10 are more in that May-July window. The other 2 not mentioned were released in March.
So yes, it could be said that 12 of the top 20 opening weekends of all time were from movies released during that typical May-July “summer blockbuster” window. But given that 6 of the top 20 opening weekends of all time were in the winter, imho what we are seeing is that rather than the “movies will earn more if they are released in the summer” we are seeing that it’s “movies that studios want to earn more are released in the summer, but fans will go see a movie they want to see regardless of when it is released.
Latest Answers