Box office: Summer season finally here (MBN)

By Paul Dergarabedian

It's finally here! The start of the potentially highest revenue-generating Summer, ever, began in earnest at midnight Thursday with the opening of Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

Friday also sees the opening of Warner Bros.' "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" which is a great counter-programming option for those looking for a smart romantic comedy.

Unfortunately, the media is all abuzz about the darn Swine Flu and the Chrysler flameout, but no matter since moviegoers have been showing that nothing can keep them away from the movie theater, not even the recession.

The Summer season is all important and in the last two years has accounted for just over 43% of the total year box-office revenue. If we surpass $10 billion this year in total revenue and wind up with, let's say $10.5 billion, 43% of that would translate to a Summer gross of $4.6 billion.

That seems like a feasible number given the state of the strong theatrical marketplace and the fact that we are heading into this weekend with a 17%-plus advantage on revenue and a 15%-plus advantage in attendance. Not a bad way to start a summer indeed!