The contest is now closed for entries.
Time again for my summer blockbuster contest. This is the 22nd running of the contest, but if the potential choices for blockbusters that we see this year continue in future years, I'm not sure if I'll see much point in continuing it. This seems like the feeblest set of supposedly exciting summer movies I can ever remember. I'm stuck with what seems like the fifty-third X-Man movie, the third outing in a declining series, the sequel to a moderately successful animated film, a late arriving entry in the "alternate approach to a well known fairy tale" (a genre that seemed old a couple summers back), a sci-fi film with a fading star that sounds like I've already seen it, and, more or less to fill out the bill, a gross-out comedy with a female star. And that last one actually sounds likely to be the most entertaining of the bunch. Nobody's even bothering to open a big action film on a three day July 4th weekend. Can we just skip ahead to the Christmas season, which, even leaving aside prestige films, sounds like a lot more fun? (Actually, if you're willing to step away from the kind of films Hollywood thinks you want to see during the summer, there might be some good stuff released. But they ain't gonna make $200 million.)
Enough whining, on to the contest.
Here's how the contest works. Below I provide the titles of six upcoming movies that will open in North America during the summer. You send me a message guessing how much money you think they'll make in North America during the summer. In addition, as a bonus question, choose the summer film not on the list I provide that will make the most money in North America during the period.
Enter through this web page. If you have trouble with the web page, I will accept entries through email, provided it isn't too hard to decipher them. Only entries received before May 23 will be included. Note that because of the starting date, Godzilla and The Amazing Spiderman 2 are not included in the contest and are not eligible for the sleeper film. Of course, including a remake of a monster film that tanked back in the summer of 1998 and the sequel to the reboot of a series that was running out of steam anyway wouldn't exactly make this contest much more exciting.
Enter your name (or whatever alias you prefer to go by) and an email address in the first two slots. Then, for each film enter the dollar amount (in millions, rounded) you think that film will make between its opening date and the end of the summer, which is Labor Day, for the purpose of this contest. For example, if you think Maleficent will make $85,330,921, enter the value 85. I won't disqualify entries for not including email addresses, but if I have a problem with your entry and for whatever reason can't get back to you by email, I'll discard the entry.
Read the complete contest rules for further details, such as scoring, exact dates covered, etc.
This being the twenty second annual contest implies there have been twenty one earlier ones. The results of those may not offer much guidance, but they're available to check out.