Here we are, just over one week away from the official start of Summer 2008 and kicking off the four month adventure is most likely one of the most anticipated films of the year in Paramount’s Iron Man. The film rocked 2007’s Comic Con and has since been a word-of-mouth juggernaut. The trailers look amazing, the cast is ripe with talent and you can’t turnaround without seeing another advertisement. Last year Spider-Man 3 kicked off summer to the tune of $336,530,303 much in the same fashion. The old web-head was practically in every corner of the world and despite a mixed bag of reviews it took home the #1 spot at the 2007 box-office. Of course films such as Shrek the Third, Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End nipped at its ankles as they all reached the $300 million mark, but Spidey held strong and its record setting* 4,324 theaters took home the box-office crown.

Here’s the question; will Iron Man succeed as did Spider-Man 3 and start the summer off with what will become the highest grossing film of the year? Or, is that diamond still out there in the rough?

Let’s take a look as I have selected 15 of this summer’s films that could possibly be crowned box-office king. Understandably some of these films I will “speed” right over, but some “love” must be shown to some of them as their past power is something not to “mess” with.

Obviously after my first paragraph we start with Iron Man. Huge buzz. Big names. Glorious trailers. Rumors of over 4,000 theaters. Downey Jr. Paltrow. Bridges. Howard. Favreau. The film is prime to dominate and depending on how good it is it surely could. The only thing that leads me to believe it won’t take the top spot at the summer 2008 box is that it just isn’t kiddy enough. Spider-Man and its sequels were above and beyond successful because they appealed to a massive range in audience members from the smallest of children to the geekiest adults. Everyone could go see it and have fun. While I think Iron Man is going to be flat-out phenom I think it is going to be skewed slightly more adult, more in the vein of Batman Begins than Spider-Man, which is going to hurt its chances for the overall top spot.

Next is Speed Racer. This is one of those flicks we can quickly speed over, but considering it’s from the Wachowski brothers it bears mentioning. On top of that it’s PG. Talk about appealing to a wider range of audiences. The Wachowski’s brought us The Matrix and scored the second highest R-rated box-office result ever in The Matrix Reloaded and now they bring that draw to a PG-rated cartoon adaptation, which from the trailers I am ready to watch day one, but enough bickering in the cheap bloggy seats makes me believe this one won’t be able to win out.

Also affecting Speed’s chances will be the following weekend’s lone release. A film more families will likely attend in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Not only is this one family friendly it has a built-in $291,710,957 audience. That’s the number The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe brought in in 2005. Adjust for inflation and we are looking at $310,369,536. Sounds like a definite top five contender to me, but is the interest there? It seems to be lagging and like Speed, growing competition is going to hurt it.

What’s Narnia’s competition? Well, outside of Iron Man and Speed Racer, opening six days later is Paramount’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It’s been crowned the most anticipated film of Summer 2008 by Fandango users by almost double over The Dark Knight and it is continuing a franchise that has earned $619,416,531 domestically and its last installation, The Last Crusade brought in $197,171,806, which if adjusted for inflation means $337,020,500. Hmmmm… most anticipated and a huge franchise to boot? Sounds like we have found our new front-runner.

The Summer ‘08 box-office well runs a little dry following Indy’s return. June 6th brings us a couple of possible contenders in Kung Fu Panda and Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. Panda has the trouble of being a DreamWorks release, which hasn’t really seen animated success outside of Shrek and Pixar’s WALL•E is sure to be the animated juggernaut of the summer (more on that one soon). As for Sandler’s Zohan it definitely deserves a quick mention as it seems American audiences will watch this guy in anything. His last two films have been downright awful and yet you supported Click to the tune of $137,355,633 and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry to a $120,059,556 box-office result. What will happen if one of his films is actually good? It probably won’t take home box-office glory, but it could be impressive.

Next up are two films that are going to hurt one another. The first is M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. It’s already said to be rated-R and Shyamalan’s box-office success has fallen hard since The Sixth Sense. Released in 1999, The Sixth Sense earned $293,506,292, which adjusted for inflation translates to a hefty chunk of change called $392,689,600. Too bad his last release, Lady in the Water, took home only $42,285,169. No matter how good The Happening is, the wariness of audiences to trust Night and the R-rating already put it in a major hole.

Opening the same weekend is the much talked about and potentially misunderstood Incredible Hulk, or Hulk Take Two. Universal is giving the green giant a second go around after the 2003 release didn’t perform as expected. Ang Lee’s Hulk brought in a respectable $132,177,234 but fans of the smash weren’t impressed and it was considered a failure. Lee’s release translates to $177,450,538 when adjusted for inflation, but going up against The Happening, the bad buzz around the film already and the bitter taste of the first one still in some people’s mouths isn’t going to help.

Comedy takes the stage following Hulk as the way-past-his-prime Mike Meyers returns with another dress-up character in The Love Guru. The film looks awful and everyone is dreading it, but you cannot overlook what Meyers has done recently. The Shrek franchise is HUGE and the Austin Powers franchise started with a film that earned $53 million and went on to make over $213 million in its third installment. People like this guy and you have to respect that when taking these things into consideration. Will Love Guru take the top spot at the 2008 summer box-office? Hell no, but it deserves mentioning.

Here’s the one that I am not too sure about. Pixar’s WALL•E opens June 27th. Last summer Ratatouille became the best reviewed film of the year and also brought in $206,445,654. Is it possible a film that rips off Short Circuit’s Johnny 5 and made by the animation studio that seems to dominate the land regardless of quality of story or film could take the top box-office spot. Probably not, but Pixar’s success is not one to be second guessed.

Then comes July, or “The Month I Have Been Waiting For”. Before we get to my most anticipated film there is one movie that could rise above the rest and actually take home more money than anyone expected and at the same time become 2008’s box-office king. Hancock. Will Smith makes Adam Sandler look like a chump when it comes to lord of the box-office. Smith’s last three films have done amazingly well. The drama Pursuit of Happyness pulled in over $163 million, the comedy Hitch garnered $179 million and last year’s I Am Legend became 2007’s sixth best film at the box with $256 million. Now, Smith is a superhero? I’m telling yah, this one could have the legs and I would be shocked if it wasn’t one of the top five box-office successes of the year.

What could be the best film of Summer 2008 probably won’t bring in the most dough, for the same reason its predecessor only brought in $205 million despite a lot of love. The Dark Knight will be dark, moody and if it lives up to my expectations, AMAZING. However, it’s more of an adult comic book film and while the means it will be better it doesn’t mean it will bring in more money.

Moving into our final month of Summer, August brings us three candidates. The first is The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Had this film been made in 2002 or 2003 instead of The Scorpion King it could have taken the $202 million earned by The Mummy Returns and turned it into something great. While this third installment in the franchise is interesting to those that have seen the first two the fact it is directed by Rob Cohen and Rachel Weisz wouldn’t return speaks volumes as to its quality. I don’t expect much.

Finally we have our last two comedies of the year and while they deserve mention they probably won’t be able to contend. Judd Apatow’s Pineapple Express is likely to hit around Knocked Up territory dollar-wise should word-of-mouth and reviews propel it so high and Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder, as funny as it may look, will be hurt by its R-rating. I don’t expect a $250 million Night at the Museum repeat from an R-rated faux-turned-real-war comedy even though it is the first Stiller film I am actually looking forward to seeing.

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