Summer Box Office Wraps

I am probably more depressed than you that summer is over. I still have residue from school days when the end of summer brought about sadness — the end of roaming around at night, sleeping in, warm weather and no school. Even now much older, I cannot shake the feeling that I should be bummed out.

So to get on with life, why not a wrap-up of Summer 2005? Beginning today with the movie box office where the story of the celluloid season included penguins, bats, a slump, the Sith and the R-rating.

The third and final Star Wars prequel Revenge of the Sith led the summer's tally, besting the lackluster, at least by Star Wars standards, Attack of the Clones ($302 million/No. 3 film of 2002) but it was not enough to surpass The Phantom Menace's $431 million. In the series, Sith will go down as the third highest-grossing film after Menace and the original 1977 film with its lifetime domestic gross of $460 million. Revenge of the Sith was a strong film, with surprisingly powerful emotions and pacing that satisfyingly ended the plodding plots of the previous two prequels.

Falling far behind, but by no means a flop was the Spielberg/Cruise production of War of the Worlds with $231 million (see chart below). In the wake of the Oprah couch serenade, we all wanted to see it tank, but instead it became the top grossing film of Cruise's career and the best for Spielberg in nearly a decade. I am much happier about the summer's No. 3 film, Batman Begins, which saw the return of the dark comic franchise. After a so-so opening weekend, the caped crusader stalked the box office (another story of the summer) to earn a definite sequel and new generation of fans. In the battle of celebrity hook-ups "Brangelina" defeated "TomKat" and was able to secure Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie the highest-grossing film of their respective careers with Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Article Author: Chip Ross

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