2008 Summer Movies - 2008 Summer Movie Box Office Predictions

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"2008 Summer Movies"
"2008 Summer Movie Box Office Predictions" - Sort Of!
by Tim Nasson
May 2, 2008

What, you ask, makes Summer 2008 so special? Especially when it comes to the summer movie box office? Simple. 30 movies, by any movie-lover's estimate (yes, even yours, if you know even next to nothing about anything except A-list movie stars), have a chance at earning OVER $100 million.

And I predict that "Indiana Jones 4" becomes only the fifth movie in motion picture history - yes, yes, we know about the nonsensical ticket prices which are 10 million times more than they were in 1939, when "Gone With The Wind" was released, and that movie tickets when "Jaws" swam into theaters in the mid 1970s were $1.25 full adult price - to take in over $430 million.

There. We've said it. Not only that we predict that "Indiana Jones 4" will be the biggest movie of Summer 2008, but also the highest grossing movie of 2008 - and the fifth highest grossing movie of all time - thanks in part, if not a lot, to the appearance of Shia LaBeouf, who helped catapult "Disturbia" and "Transformers" into movie box office bonanzas last summer.

Below, our predictions of which movies we think will take the #1 spot each week - beginning this weekend, with "Iron Man."

Keep in mind, no one, other than the directors and producers have seen any of the movies - other than "Iron Man," "Speed Racer" and "Narnia 2" - mentioned below, as of today.

And, as of today, "Iron Man" is the BEST reviewed movie to be released in movie theaters this 2008. Thus, if we fuck up royally in our predictions, so will have you, most likely, and the studios will have wasted their billions of dollars on duds.

Click on any poster or link below to watch the respective movie trailers.

Below - Week By Week Breakdown, Through Labor Day 2008, Of Movies We Predict Will Steal The #1 Spot at the Movie Box Office*

May 2 "IRON MAN" - No question that the Robert Downey Jr. action adventure, a great one for the entire family, will not only take in over $250 million at the movie box office, but may even earn Downey Jr. his second Best Actor Oscar nomination. We're not kidding.
May 9 "SPEED RACER" - The Wachowski Bros. haven't made a non-Matrix movie in over ten years. This will take the #1 spot from "Iron Man," its first weekend in theaters but won't end up as one of the Top 10 grossing movies at the box office this summer.

May 16 "NARNIA 2" - This film has a built in audience. The one that made the first "Chronicles of Narnia" a bonafide box office hit, with nearly $300 million in the Unites States, alone.
May 22 "INDY 4" - Move over everyone. "Indy 4" arrives. Everything else will bow to him, and his producer, George Lucas, and director, Steven Spielberg, and costar, Shia LaBeouf.
May 30 "INDY 4" & "SEX AND THE CITY: THE MOVIE" - Yes, "Indiana Jones 4" will retain its spot at the top of the movie box office for two weekends but every "Sex And The City" lover will get "Carried" away making it one of the highest grossing R-rated movies of all time - for opening weekend. We're going with $65 million.

June 6 "KUNG FU PANDA" - While this Paramount/Dreamworks animated film has a few weeks to capture the kids and familys at the movies, and enter the movie box office fray at #1, it will fizzle very fast once "Disney's Walle" hits theaters.
June 6 "YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN" - Or Adam Sandler, for that matter, apparently. Adam Sandler? Summer Comedy? Gay jokes? Need we say anything else?
June 13 "THE HAPPENING" - We're going out on a limb and predicting that M. Night Shyamalan's "THE HAPPENING," starring Mark Wahlberg steal the #1 spot from "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" starring Edward Norton. While both open the same weekend, "The Incredible Hulk" is already getting horrific buzz and Shyamalan is ready to redeem himself after the 2006 bomb "Lady In The Water."

June 20 "THE LOVE GURU" - Yes, Mike Myers will steal the #1 spot from Steve Carell whose "GET SMART MOVIE" opens the same weekend, as he will also attract more viewers to "The Love Guru" than Bill Maher does with his 'Borat" style comedy "RELIGULOUS."

June 27 "Disney's WALLE" - No competition. "Disney's WALLE" will open the weekend with over $75 million. Yes, Angelina Jolie and hottie James McAvoy also screech into theaters with "WANTED," the pair will be lucky to squeal away with $45 million.

July 2 "HANCOCK" - Will Smith. July 4th weekend. Hmmm. Does he need to worry about Abigail Breslin's "Kit Kittridge" - opening the same weekend? Um. No. Expect a $100 million+ opening long- weekend for Will Smith.

July 11 "MEET DAVE" - This is the weekend that Eddie Murphy goes against the first ever exclusive 3D movie release, "JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D" and the sequel "HELLBOY 2." We haven't seen any of the three, but we're betting if "MEET DAVE" is half as funny as it sounds - think "Innerspace" meets "Norbit"? - it will come out on top.

July 18 "THE DARK KNIGHT" - Wild About Movies predicted weeks, if not months ago, that "THE DARK KNIGHT," Heath Ledger's next-to-last movie, would be the second highest grossing movie of Summer 2008. And we're sticking to that prediction. However, the same weekend "THE DARK KNIGHT" hits theaters, Dancing Queens and Mamma's around the nation will be going crazy as Meryl Streep goes for her 90th Oscar nomination in "Mamma Mia: The Movie." While "THE DARK KNIGHT" has a chance at a $100 million opening weekend, don't bet that "MAMMA MIA: The Movie" makes less than $25 million its first weekend in movie theaters. And Top $100 when all is said and done, especially after all of the queens have seen it for the eleventh time.

July 25 "THE X-FILES 2" - While "STEP BROTHERS" also opens the same weekend, "THE X-FILES 2" has the upper hand. Will Ferrell bombed with "Semi Pro" and John C. Reilly tanked in "Walk Hard." No one has seen an original "X-Files" anything in over half a decade. All the "X-Fileophiles" will run to the theater making it the #1 movie of the weekend, IF "The Dark Knight" doesn't retain its #1 spot - which it probably will. Whatever # "X-Files 2" enters the fray its first weekend in theaters, watch its box office tally drop precipitously thereafter.

Aug 1 "THE MUMMY 3" - It has been seven, yes count them, years since "The Mummy 2." And Rob Cohen's first at bat with the franchise is a safe bet. Very safe indeed. Cohen knows action. Remember the original "The Fast And The Furious?" And "XXX?" Expect over $200 million from "THE MUMMY 3."

Aug 8 "THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS" - Judd Apatow, the producer of "THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS," hasn't really ever done well producing. Directing? Yes. "40 Year Old Virgin," the first movie he directed, and "Knocked Up," which will be a year old by the time "THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS" tokes its way into theaters, are the only two movies he has directed. As for producing? Apatow's movies have pretty much gone up in smoke: "Walk Hard," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and "Drillbit Taylor" each released within the past six months. While "THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS" could open at the #1 spot, it's doubtful, since "The Mummy 3" will be hot on its heels. However, "THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS" does have a chance at becoming the 'sleeper' of Summer 2008, earning its money slowly but surely.

Aug 15 "STAR WARS: CLONE WARS" and "TROPIC THUNDER" hit theaters the same day. This is a tough one to call. The toughest of the summer. But we're going with "Clone Wars." Ben Stiller in a violent comedy just doesn't sound as much fun as intergallactic violence, courtesy of George Lucas.

Aug 22 "BANGKOK DANGEROUS" and "HAMLET 2" open the same day. But the last two weekends of August always are saved for the shittiest movies. If either can capture the number one spot from whichever movie was #1 the previous week ("Clone Wars?") we'll bet on another potential sleeper, "HAMLET 2." We're sick of Nic Cage, who stars in "BANGKOK DANGEROUS," and we hope you are too.

Aug 29 "Babylon AD" - The final weekend of the official Summer 2008 movie season ends with Vin Diesel in "Babylon AD." And, though it has been long delayed, why not? We'll bite and give him the slot for #1 this weekend.

2008 MOVIE BOX OFFICE - BROKEN DOWN WEEK-BY-WEEK

* Check back every week to see how well Wild About Movies has fared in these predictions! Just bookmark this page.