Hello, true believers! Do you, like me, enjoy fantasy football, but have trouble getting into it because you're simply not that into football? I have solution: SummerMovieLeague.com! This website allows you to choose movies between May 25 and the Tuesday after Labor Day and guess which ones will gross the highest. Whoever grossest the highest at the end wins. You can also put the movies in order based on which will make the most, and you gain a bonus if you're right. Here's a tip: the films that gross the most are consistently animated and superhero movies (the latter more than the former, if you need to compare), with sci-fi coming closely behind. You should also trust that remakes of classic films (like Total Recall, as you'll see in my list) will do pretty well. It's important not to necessarily judge a movie by how good it is or looks, but by how well it will do. A good example of this was Cowboys and Aliens from last Summer: despite positive reviews, the movie didn't connect with Average Joe, or more importantly in this case, Joe, Josephine, Joe Jr., and Joy, the Average Family. In case you need some help with your list, here's mine:
1. The Dark Knight Rises-This one shouldn't be a surprise. Nolan's Batman movies have only done extremely well, and I'll elaborate on why I picked this above The Amazing Spider-Man next.
2. The Amazing Spider-Man- The brand alone should give this movie plenty of money, and superhero movies are always the big money makers. What puts this below The Dark Knight Rises? The public at large, unlike comic book fans, doesn't understand reboots-that is, at least concerning the Spider-Man movies, whose latest entrance into the franchise was nearly five years ago and fresh in people's minds. This contrasts with movies in the Superman or Batman series, whose latest films, at the time of their reboot, were separated by around 1-2 decades. In the case of the upcoming The Man of Steel, the latest Superman film, Superman Returns, was somewhat unremarkable. Too much confusion is generated from the material and altered portions of this movie that it'll fall below The Dark Knight Rises. The extra cost for 3D movies will make this movie perform even better, so luckily, the site still gives you a bonus if you're one off in the list.
3. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted - As I previously said, animated/kids' films always do very well, and this is the third entry into an already successful series. Is it just me, or has this series jumped the shark with this one?
4. Ice Age: Continental Drift - And speaking of jumping the shark...it's the fourth Ice Age. This movie was only beaten out by Madagascar 3 because the Madagascar series has more exposure with kids, between the more recent films and the cartoon on Nickelodeon.
5. Madea's Witness Protection - Say what you will about Tyler Perry's Madea films, but they make money. Oh, you doubt me? This is the seventh film in the Madea series. Seven. It beat out Star Wars! I wouldn't be surprised if the series gets more movies than Friday the Thirteenth, Nightmare on Elm's Street, or Halloween.
6. Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - Hopefully, most young readers of the Diary of A Wimpy Kid book series. However, I don't have a great amount of faith in these young readers, and based on the success of the previous films (and once again, a third film in a series), I can see this movie doing quite well.
7. The Expendables 2 - If there's two things Americans like in movies, it's these: Sequels and mindless explosions and violence. The Expendables and its sequel are old fashinoned action films, and they feature casts that audiences gravitate towards: Statham, Rourke, Stallone, Crews, Schwarzenagger, and-yes, you're about to read right-Chuck Norris. Chuck. Fracking. Norris.
8. Brave - While this is a darker movie than others by the studio, Brave is a Disney-Pixar movie. That alone is a money maker, but it also is a lot about woman-power and freedom, which are draws for a movie audience.
9. Total Recall - Like I said, remakes make money, and sci-fi thrillers like this are bound to make money. The reason it's so high up in the list is that, though a good movie, Total Recall is not exactly fresh in people's minds.
10. Prometheus - I really hope this movie does well, and better than 10th best in the Summer. It's a sci-fi thriller, so it'll make good money, and it looks incredible, so it'll get good money from people in the geek community. However, it seems strange and scary to the public at large, who don't know it's sorta-kinda a prequel to Director Ridley Scott's Alien. Ridley Scott isn't exactly a household name in non-geek homes, so putting that in the trailer, in my opinion, can't draw enough people to bring this movie higher on the list.
To make your own list, you can go to SummerMovieLeague.com.
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