Monday Movie Report: Summer box office drops 2%

While there have been plenty of hits this year, including the highest grossing movie of all time across the world, the summer box office took a dip compared to 2018.

Officially, the summer movie season runs from May through August. In 2018, according to Variety, flicks generated $4.32 billion from theaters in North America. While it’s a high number, it was a 2 percent fall from the $4.41 billion made in 2018.

Over the past few months, there have been several duds and a good share of weak sequels that weren’t able to create enough buzz at ticket stations. Sequels, including “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” fell well short of expectations.

Despite falling 2 percent, though, there were some bright spots. “Avengers Endgame” gave the box office a tremendous boost, becoming the second highest earning North American release and the No. 1 movie across the planet.

Releases such as “The Lion King” remake, “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and “Toy Story 4” all added to some good ticket sales.

Looking ahead, the fall and winter could prove strong for the year overall. In the next several weeks, releases include “It Chapter Two,” “Frozen II” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”

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In the past weekend, the box office was rather low, with very few major releases coming to theaters. Taking the No. 1 spot was the sequel “Angel Has Fallen” with $11.8 million.

The full top five was:

1. Angel has Fallen – $11,842,000
2. Good Boys – $9,500,000
3. The Lion King – $6,762,000
4. Hobbs and Shaw – $6,380,000
5. Ready or Not – $5,876,000

This coming weekend should have a much higher box office No. 1, as the horror sequel “It Chapter Two” hits theaters.

On the small screen, meanwhile, films available are:

• Men In Black International, my rating: 2.25 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 22%, Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 2.32 out of 5.
• Ma, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 54%, Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 3.25 out of 5.
• Booksmart, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 97%, Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 4.08 out of 5.
• The Secret Life of Pets 2, my rating: 2.5 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 60%, Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 3 out of 5.
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters, my rating: 2.5 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 41%, Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 3.17 out of 5.
• Rocketman, my rating: 4.5 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 89%, Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 3.97 out of 5.
• The Last Black Man in San Francisco, my rating: 4.5 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 93%.