We’re going to need a bigger boat
- brahamfiction
- Jun 8
- 2 min read
Although the term had been around since the 1940s, Steven Spielberg’s classic Jaws firmly established the ‘blockbuster’ designation in 1975. Two years later, in 1977, George Lucas’s science-fiction epic Star Wars cemented the trend. Summer became blockbuster season. Each year, as the temperature rises, studios take their biggest swings and release what they hope to be a major box office success. For decades the summer blockbuster season was owned by one or two films. They enjoyed long theatrical runs and little to no competition. Now a new blockbuster is released every week.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu kicked off the 2026 blockbuster season on May 22nd, but was replaced at the top of box office a week later by Backrooms on May 29nd, which in turn has been usurped by Scary Movie 6 on June 5th. Unfortunately it appears that Masters of the Universe (my childhood toys come-to-life) is on the way to being considered a box office bomb. Next week, June 12th, Disclosure Day hits theaters and will no-doubt push the previously mentioned titles further down the list. This means ticket sales for Masters of the Universe will fall and the likelihood of earning a profit is improbable. With the deep lore and wide array of colorful characters the toyline could be a franchise for years to come...but now if the teased squeal even gets made it will likely go straight to the Amazon’s Prime Video streaming app instead of theaters.
Movie theaters are crowded with major tentpoles this time of year and even a Steven Spielberg directed science-fiction masterpiece isn’t safe. Toy Story 5 comes out one week later on June 19th and will likely overtake Disclosure Day. One week after that is Supergirl comes out on June 26th and will surely take the number-one spot. Taking advantage of the long July 4th holiday weekend, Minions and Monsters will be released Wednesday July 1st. This leaves Supergirl with only five days in the theaters with no major competition. I don’t perceive this to be an issue as comic-book films are virtually guaranteed to be smash hits. When all is said and done, two films will overshadow the entire summer 2026 blockbuster season...Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Supergirl.
Unless you have a massive marketing machine and/or built-in fan loyalty that includes multiple demographics (like Marvel and DC fans) one week is not a lot of time for a movie to make their impact. Titanic, James Cameron’s 1997 historical tragedy is the fifth highest grossing film of all time with a whopping $2.26 billion. In fact, Titanic became the first movie to cross the $1 billion mark. There was some competition in 1997, but it was the nearly year-long theatrical run that pushed the movie into box-office history. Long stays in the theaters don’t happen today and the opening weekend is the key to a movies success in the crowded summer-blockbuster season.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the studios got together and agreed to give each other’s movies more breathing room. Instead of overwhelming us with one blockbuster mega-franchise coming out per week they were released once a month. Unless your an avid movie-goer and intend to watch them all, choose carefully and vote with your money because that’s not going to happen.
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