What are the defining summer blockbusters from the last 50 years?

Conventional wisdom states that Steven Spielberg’s 1975 hit “Jaws” was the first summer blockbuster. Usually, it was common practice for movies to be released slowly, and the concept of “tentpole” films was not yet ingrained in the Hollywood landscape. Summer was not necessarily the season for blockbusters from studios, either. After “Jaws,” the idea of the summer blockbuster was effectively birthed, and we still think about the film world that way.

Trends in pop culture often take a bit of time to react to the jumping-off point. Movies were already in production when “Jaws” became a huge hit, which is to say that in 1976 the idea hadn’t really taken off yet. This is one of only two years on this list that isn’t rife with shots at the summer blockbuster crown. That being said, seminal horror film “The Omen” was a big hit over the summer. It topped the box office five weeks in a row, and finished seventh in the domestic box office overall.

If “Jaws” was the opening salvo, “Star Wars” was the movie that etched the idea of the summer blockbuster into the cultural landscape forever. George Lucas reshaped the future of film with “Star Wars.” By dint of 20th Century Fox deciding to release it on Memorial Day weekend, the studio helped establish one of the two major weekends of the summer movie schedule (the other being 4th of July). “Star Wars” had a long tail. It topped the box office all through August, September, and most of October. The movie began as a huge summer hit, though.

As you will see, this list is laden with sci-fi movies and action extravaganzas. “Star Wars” presaged that trend. In 1978, though, the biggest summer blockbuster was a nostalgic musical about how smoking and wearing leather pants is how to find romance. “Grease” is the only musical to make this list, perhaps because most musicals aren’t as poppy as this one. The story of the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds was the number-one movie of the year, but 1978 also saw two notable reissues top the box office for one week: “American Graffiti” and “Star Wars.” Big year for George Lucas, and he didn’t even release a film!

“Alien” is a sci-fi film, but it’s also a nasty, low-budget horror movie. It doesn’t scream “blockbuster,” and that is a point against it. However, no movie dominated the summer, and “The Amityville Horror” feels less summer-y than “Alien.” Plus, Ridley Scott’s horror classic topped the box office three weeks in a row, including Memorial Day weekend. We aren’t knocking “Alien.” It rules. It just is a somewhat surprising pick for a defining summer blockbuster.

Avoiding sequels on this list would be nice, but also disingenuous. How could we pick any movie other than “The Empire Strikes Back.” Shout out to “Airplane!,” which topped the box office for four weeks in the summer, but the sequel to “Star Wars” is, you know, one of the biggest cultural events of the 1980s. “The Empire Strikes Back” was atop the box office seven weeks in a row, from Memorial Day through the 4th of July. It also ensured “Star Wars” and “summer blockbuster” would continue to go hand in hand, as you will see.

“Raiders of the Lost Ark” is a classic, but it was not an easy choice. “Superman II” topped the box office for four weeks in the summer, and set a new record for biggest opening weekend. The first Indiana Jones movie sandwiched “Superman II” with one week atop the box office, but all through August, and through Labor Day weekend, it was number one again. That’s still summer. While Indiana Jones and Superman are both huge cultural figures, “Raiders” is a bigger movie, and a better movie while we’re at it.

After directing the first foray into summer blockbuster-ing, Steven Spielberg built upon his success. “E.T.” ruled the summer. It had the highest-grossing second weekend ever. In its fourth week, Spielberg’s alien adventure film had the highest-grossing weekend full stop. When all was said and done, Spielberg’s film was the highest-grossing movie ever.

This was inevitable. “Return of the Jedi” being the defining summer blockbuster the summer it was released was a given. As such, we were curious if by this point other studios had learned the notion of “laying out” for a weekend or two to avoid getting trounced by a presumed box-office steamroller. It seems to be the case. The only movie released the same weekend as “Return of the Jedi” was…women-in-prison cheapie “Chained Heat.” It would be two weeks, when “Trading Places” came out, until anybody really threw their hat back into the ring.

1984 was an amazing year for movies. “Beverly Hills Cop” won the overall box office battle, but that was a December release. The summer belonged to “Ghostbusters.” Another iconic comedy of the year, “Ghostbusters” was the number-one movie in the box office for its first seven weeks. After one week of “Purple Rain” topping the charts, “Ghostbusters” grabbed one more weekend for good measure to kick off August. Sure, Axel Foley won the overall battle, for Peter Venkman won the summer.

The eighth-highest-grossing movie of 1984 was “Romancing the Stone,” which was the movie that saved Robert Zemeckis’ career. Zemeckis was the wunderkind buddy of the still wunderkind-ish Spielberg, but his first two movies flopped. Spielberg told Zemeckis to set aside his personal projects and take some work for hire that felt safe. When “Romancing the Stone” was a hit, Zemeckis got the chance to make his pet project. That would be “Back to the Future.” It ruled the summer of 1985 and ensured Zemeckis would have plenty of runway as a director going forward.

“The Karate Kid Part II” is the first sequel on this list from a franchise wherein the first film did not make the cut. While “The Karate Kid” was a huge success, it was released in 1984, the summer of “Ghostbusters.” This was a battle between “Karate Kid Part II” and another sequel, “Aliens.” Both were big summer hits. While “Aliens” has more cultural cache now, “Karate Kid Part II” beat it in the domestic box office by a robust $30 million, so it gets the win.

Hey, back-to-back sequels to movies that didn’t make the list. Of course, as we noted, the only reason “Beverly Hills Cop” didn’t get picked for 1984 was because it was a winter release. For the sequel, Paramount dropped it over Memorial Day weekend. It proved a wise move, as the film set the record for the highest-grossing debut weekend for an R-rated movie, and it would top the box office for three weeks.

Say, have you heard of this Eddie Murphy guy? Murphy was the face of summer movie going two years in a row. Funnily enough, “Crocodile Dundee II” got out ahead of the pack as the big Memorial Day weekend release. It did not end up in the mix, though, because it’s, you know “Crocodile Dundee II.” No, the battle was between “Coming to America” and Zemeckis’ “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” “Roger Rabbit” was a slow burner and it ended up second in the year-end box office behind “Rain Man.” However, “Coming to America” was third on that list, it topped the box office three weeks to two for “Roger Rabbit,” and “Coming to America” set a new record for a movie debuting over 4th of July weekend. That gives it the win.

Over Memorial Day weekend, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” set a new record for biggest debut weekend. One month later, that record was broken by “Batman.” Though Tim Burton’s film only topped the box office for two weeks, it made over $70 million across those weeks en route to $251 million. Also, it opened a whole new path forward for superhero movies.

1990 was pretty remarkable. Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves” defied all expectations to become a huge hit and the Best Picture winner. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” became the highest-grossing independent film of all-time. “Ghost,” though, had perhaps the most-fascinating run of them all. The supernatural love story did not top the box office in its first week. However, it did in its second…and its fourth…and then over Labor Day weekend, its eighth week of release. That’s effectively the end of the summer movie season. In addition to finishing second in the box office to Christmas release “Home Alone,” “Ghost” was a Best Picture nominee, and Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Plus, “Ghost” changed how we feel about making pottery.

James Cameron is a box-office force. “Big Jim” has delivered some of the biggest movies in history, including “Titanic” and “Avatar.” They just usually aren’t summer releases. “Terminator 2” was, though. He followed up his nasty, gritty horror flick “The Terminator” (which we personally prefer as a film) with a robust action movie that topped the summer box office four weeks in a row.

“Lethal Weapon 3” and “Batman Returns” both led the box office for three weeks, with the former taking Memorial Day and the latter taking 4th of July. Burton’s “Batman” sequel finished just above “Lethal Weapon 3” in overall box office. However, “Batman Returns” is a Christmas movie. It doesn’t feel like summer at all. That’s why we gave the edge to “Lethal Weapon 3.”

Spielberg does it again. He helped craft the very idea of the summer blockbuster. “E.T.” became the highest-grossing movie of all time at that point. That held until Spielberg topped himself with “Jurassic Park.” Plus, “Jurassic Park” is simply one of the straight-up most influential blockbusters ever made.

Finally, an animated movie gets in the mix, and of course it is a Disney offering. We could have gone with Zemeckis’ “Forrest Gump,” which won Best Picture and was the highest-grossing film of the year. However, that movie had a long run with a lot of legs. “The Lion King” broke the record for biggest weekend debut for an animated film, and also had the biggest weekend of 1994. A tough battle, to be sure, but Simba eked it out.

Tom Hanks missed out on starring in the defining summer blockbuster of 1994 by the narrowest of margins, but he made up for it in 1995. In the summer, famed fiascos such as “Congo,” “Batman Forever,” and “Waterworld” all topped the box office at times, but “Apollo 13” did it for four weeks in a row. It finished just behind “Batman Forever,” but “Batman Forever” is not good and “Apollo 13” was a Best Picture nominee, and in hindsight should have won. It wins here.

“Independence Day” called its shot. It came out over 4th of July weekend and made $50 million, a new record. The sci-fi action flick topped the box office two more weeks in a row, and was the highest-grossing film of 1996 domestically. Also, in terms of intangibles, it’s nice to have a film called “Independence Day” defining the summer.

Will Smith is back at it. “Titanic” is, of course, the sensation of 1997. It came out in December, though, and had most of its memorable run in early 1998. The summer opened with another Spielberg offering, “The Lost World.” That movie has not stood the test of time, though, and wasn’t even received all that well then. “Men in Black” set the new Fourth of July record and made slightly more money than “The Lost World.” On top of that, it birthed a franchise, instead of riding another movie’s coattails.

Turns out Spielberg would be just fine. “Godzilla” had the biggest weekend of the summer, but when people realized how bad that movie was, returns swiftly diminished. “Saving Private Ryan” did not have that problem. Though it is a searing, serious World War II drama, the movie was a bit hit, and finished first atop the box office four weeks in a row. “Saving Private Ryan” made way more money than “Godzilla,” and also is considered a classic, as opposed to a piece of cinematic trash.

We have not been swayed by the revisionists trying to reclaim their childhood: “The Phantom Menace” is a bad movie. At the time, though, hype was high. You could argue no movie has been more anticipated than the first “Star Wars” prequel. The box office responded. As all the other studios got out of the way, “The Phantom Menace” had a huge first weekend, and then set a new record for the highest-grossing second weekend ever. Yes, it was a bad movie. It was also the biggest movie event of 1999.

This was a weird summer, with no movie emerging as a box-office force. The biggest weekend belonged to “Mission: Impossible 2,” but that film is bad, and even fans of that franchise avoid that one. “X-Men” only topped the box office for one week, and a couple summer movies made more money. However, “X-Men” salvaged the comic-book movie after the disastrous “Batman & Robin,” and birthed a franchise. It has come to define the summer of 2000, though it is not as definitive as many movies on this list.

Another odd summer. The biggest movies of the year ended up eschewing summer by and large. “Shrek” came out before summer. “Pearl Harbor” sucks. “The Fast and the Furious” begat an iconic franchise, but it was not a huge film. It would be years until the franchise took off. “Legally Blonde” also has cultural cache, but it made $20 million in its biggest weekend and did not finish in the top 10 in the box office. “American Pie 2” was the top film in the box office three weeks in August, and set a new record for the biggest opening for an R-rated comedy. It’s the only raunchy teen comedy to make this list.

The biggest movie of 2002? That would be “Spider-Man.” However, perhaps fearing “Attack of the Clones,” that movie came out May 3. The second “Star Wars” prequel got to kick off summer, and it made over $300 million when all is said and done. “Spider-Man” is the defining movie of 2002, but not of the summer of 2002.

70 million dollars. “Finding Nemo” came out at the end of May and in its first weekend brought in just over $70 million. That was the biggest debut ever for an animated film, a G-rated film, and for an original movie full stop. Though the December release “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” topped the box office (and won Best Picture), it was the Pixar film about a lost fish that defined the summer.

“Shrek 2” and “Spider-Man 2” finished one-two in the box office. Both topped the box office for two weeks as well. However, “Shrek 2” was a late May release, coming out before Memorial Day weekend. “Spider-Man 2” was a 4th of July weekend release. It’s also considered by many to be the best superhero movie ever. That makes it an easy choice.

Yes, “Revenge of the Sith” came out this summer. It was the highest-grossing movie of the summer, and of the year. It also didn’t have the same level of hype, or cultural impact, as the previous two prequels. For years, it was the end of the line for “Star Wars” movies. On the other hand, “Batman Begins” salvaged the Caped Crusader from the failings of “Batman & Robin.” It made Christopher Nolan an important blockbuster figure. Also, it made a lot of money. What movie from the summer of 2005 is talked about more of these two? Which one had a bigger impact on pop culture? There’s your winner.

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise is wild. All the movies are notable, but never at the center of the conversation. They were all super expensive, but also made a ton of money. It felt right to include one “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie in the mix. The second film in the franchise was actually an easy choice, as there wasn’t much competition. Not only that, but “Dead Man’s Chest” made over $135 million in its first weekend alone. The movie made $423 million domestically, and no other movie made more than $250 million. Like we said, this franchise has made so much money.

“Spider-Man 3” was the biggest hit of the year, but it was an early May release. Maybe we should recognize it as a representation of summer movie season creep? What about “Shrek the Third?” Or “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men’s Chest,” which was the big Memorial Day weekend movie. Well, while “Transformers” only topped the box office for one week, it was the third-highest-grossing film of the year, and birthed a new franchise. You know, as opposed to being the third film in an already-successful franchise.

“Batman Begins” opened the door. “The Dark Knight” burst through it. This is the year that changed the future of Hollywood for 15 years. It’s the year “Iron Man” birthed the MCU and “The Dark Knight” took superhero movies to the next level, critically and commercially. It topped the box office four weeks in a row, the first movie to do that since “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” “The Dark Knight” won Heath Ledger an Oscar and gave Nolan a James Cameron-esque blank check going forward.

Maybe those teenagers who went to see “American Pie 2” in the summer of 2001 were adults seeing “The Hangover” the summer of 2009. The R-rated Vegas comedy didn’t have any stars (at the time), but it became a phenomenon. “The Hangover” had the biggest opening weekend for an R-rated comedy ever, and it topped the box office for two weeks. With the death of the blockbuster comedy, it’s good to remember where we were less than 20 years ago.

We’ll shout out Nolan’s “Inception,” a movie that was number one at the box office three weeks in a row, notable for an original idea. However, it made $62 million its opening weekend, and “Toy Story 3” made $59 million its second weekend. That came after a first weekend of $110 million, the highest ever for June at the time. “Toy Story 3” was the top film of the year in terms of the box office, and was a family-friendly, four-quadrant success.

It took until the final film in the franchise, but Harry Potter and company finally made the cut. There were some big opening weekends in the summer of 2011 from entries in the “Transformers” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchises. The first Captain America film got in the mix too. Hype for the last “Harry Potter” was huge, though. How huge? “Midnight” showings grossed $43.5 million, a new record. It made $169 million its opening weekend, which was almost half its total domestic gross. That speaks to the excitement. Everybody wanted to see it as soon as possible.

We will officially declare that summer movie creep started to include basically any movie released in May with 2012. “The Avengers” ended its first weekend in theaters on May 6, but chroniclers of box office achievements catalog it as a summer movie. It had the hype, and the box office, of a summer blockbuster, to be sure. “The Avengers” made over $200 million its first weekend, and even by the weekend of May 20, it was bringing in $55 million. The Marvel movie opened the summer. It dictated when the summer movie season began through willpower and success.

Notably, summer movie creep is not without its casualties. August, much less September, was not included in the big summer blockbuster swings of 2013. Basically, “summer movie season” was now May, June, and July. “Man of Steel” had a huge opening week, because it was a new Superman movie, but it fell off swiftly, and it has no cultural cache. Meanwhile, the “Despicable Me” franchise has become one of the defining franchises of the last decade. Getting one of its films in this list felt right.

Now, you might say, “Wait a second, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ was an August release!” It sure was, because Marvel wasn’t sure about James Gunn’s weirdo sci-fi comedy about superheroes basically nobody had heard of. It was a gamble, playing with house money. “Captain America and the Winter Soldier,” an April release, was the big play. “Guardians of the Galaxy” was squeezed into the classic summer movie season, and was helped by the fact most students still weren’t really putting blockbusters out in August. After topping the box office in its first week, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was the number-one movie for two weeks before “Guardians” topped the charts to end August and begin September with unremarkable returns, because there was no real competition. That long tail really helped. Who knows what the “Guardians” would have been without it?

Yes, the “Jurassic World” trilogy is for all intents and purposes the most-successful franchise nobody seems to care about. It was successful, though, and “Jurassic World” had a huge summer in 2015. The movie debuted to over $200 million, and then made over $100 million in its second weekend. “Jurassic World” broke the summer blockbuster records “The Avengers” set a few years earlier. Of course, “The Avengers” had massive cultural impact, and most people can’t tell you a thing about “Jurassic World,” even though a lot of us saw it.

Going into this, we knew “Finding Nemo” and its sequel were successful, but we did not envision both of them making this list. “Captain America: Civil War” had the biggest debut weekend of 2016, and May was fully ensconced in the summer from a movie perspective by this point. However, “Finding Dory” was a bigger movie. It was the number-one film three weeks in a row, compared to two for “Civil War.” The Pixar sequel ended up making more money than the MCU movie as well. Yes, it was a bigger success, and a more traditional summer movie as a June release.

A few movies had bigger weekends. Even one summer movie, “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” did. “Wonder Woman” made more money than “Homecoming,” though. Both had cultural cache. Both impacted the zeitgeist. Spidey has had his time on this list, though. “Wonder Woman” was more of a “moment” over the summer.

There were several bigger films. “Deadpool 2.” “Incredibles 2.” Even “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom.” All that said, the sixth “Mission: Impossible” movie topped the box office for two weeks in a row in the summer of 2018, and it feels like it had more cultural impact than “Incredibles 2” or “Fallen Kingdom.” So why not “Deadpool 2?” Well, it’s kind of a shrug, not really building on the first movie at all. “Fallout” has more going for it, including Henry Cavill’s mustache.

We will not allow summer to creep into April! Thus, “Avengers: Endgame” did not get the call. That “live-action” “Lion King” made a ton of money, but it was mostly morbid curiosity, right? “Hobbs & Shaw” is the only “Fast and Furious” movie on this list. The spinoff is the one movie in the franchise that even people who don’t like the franchise often enjoy. It was a busy, robust summer, but “Hobbs & Shaw” ekes it out.

Look, “Tenet” was a September release. It topped the box office into late September and even into October. This was the COVID-19 year. That pandemic destroyed movie going, and wrecked the box office. They literally did not report box office returns from the end of March through the middle of August. “Tenet” was the first major release after theaters started to open back up. It was the only choice.

The film industry, and specifically the theater industry, had not fully recovered by the summer of 2021. When you look at the box office reports, the words “simultaneous release” pop up repeatedly. In its third week of release “A Quiet Place Part II” was the number-one movie, and it also served as an important landmark. It was the first movie to make over $100 million domestically since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. That makes the horror film our choice.

The summer blockbuster returned in full force with “Top Gun: Maverick.” Tom Cruise and company waited. They didn’t want to do the whole “simultaneous release” thing. It paid off. The long-gestating sequel set a new Memorial Day weekend record. Then, it set the record for the smallest drop in box office returns for a movie that made over $100 million in its first weekend. It also had a long tail, topping the box office again in its 15th week to kick off September.

Ahh, “Barbenheimer.” It was the biggest film phenomenon in years. Both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were huge hits. “Oppenheimer” would win a ton of Oscars, but it had to settle for being the highest-grossing movie to never be number one. That’s because of “Barbie.” “Barbie” was number one for four weeks. It made over $600 million domestically. The film was a sensation, a cultural dynamo. It was a true summer blockbuster.

It really came down to two sequels. Well, two sequels and a pretend sequel in "Twisters." That's just a movie about tornadoes coasting on "Twister." Two movies were the foremost forces at the box office in 2024, and both were summer releases. Those films are "Inside Out 2" and "Deadpool & Wolverine." While the former made slightly more money, it was also a family film. "Deadpool & Wolverine" is the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history. Plus, it marked the end of 20th Century Fox's run with Marvel characters, folding everybody into Disney's MCU.