Bang! Flop! It's Summer Movie Season!

Welcome to summer! With Memorial Day in sight, we’re two tentpoles into the madness that is summer movie season.

It’s been an interesting start. The Amazing-Spider-man 2 opened to very lackluster reviews on May 2^nd – it’s currently showing a tepid 53% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, having earned $153 million in two weeks, opening at $91 million. Nobody seems very excited about it.

Last week’s Seth Rogen comedy Neighbors dethroned Spidey in its second weekend, with $49 million. It’s 73% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now we’re getting serious. This weekend brings Godzilla, which is earning decidedly mixed reviews. Empire gave it 3 out of 5 stars and Entertainment Weekly’s score of B-minus seems pretty representative. It debuted on Rotten Tomatoes in the low 80’s, but has dropped down to 73% fresh – still not that bad. The behemoth did pretty well last night, pulling in $9.3 million from Thursday night showings. Given Spidey’s drop-off and the potency of their trailers, Godzilla should be fairly review-proof and ought to nail at least $80 million this weekend. It’s still one of the most anticipated pictures of the summer, so $100 million isn’t out of the question. Counter-programming should benefit Jon Hamm’s Million Dollar Arm, but the 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is pretty weak for what Disney called their best-testing movie ever.

Will Godzilla capture the pop culture imagination, despite the restraint of some reviews? The second half supposedly packs quite a wallop. I know I’m still excited to see it (though I’ll skip the 3D, thanks). It’s too soon to tell, but it feels like we have yet to see our first real milestone picture that defines summer 2014.

Next week sees X-Men: Days of Future Past unleashed at the box office. Promotion for the film has been diluted by the turmoil surrounding accusations involving director Bryan Singer. It’s very early with only 18 reviews so far, but Rotten Tomatoes currently shows it with a whopping 94% Fresh. Even if that drops off, X-Men seems poised for a great Memorial Day weekend.

That’s the lay of the land so far! So go help the big fella earn some respect this weekend! One thing’s for sure, summer’s just getting started…!