Ok, time to start the contest.
Last year we did something funky and only had a top 3. This summer we go back to a top 5, but there is a wrinkle.
As I stated a few weeks ago, you will never convince me that summer starts in April. So, this contest will be for boxoffice receipts from May 1 - Sept 2nd (Labor Day). No boxoffice earned before May 1 or after Sept 2nd will be counted. This is different from how we have done it in the past... but we (I) seem to change the rules almost every year so I am sure all of you can deal with it. The biggest practical impact of this will be upon Avengers: Endgame.
To be 100% clear... Endgame opens on April 25th and none of the money it earns in its first 6 days of release will count in its final total for our contest. I am confident that will mean $250+ million of boxoffice being lopped off like Ned Stark's head. If Endgame makes $250 in those first 6 days and (only) makes $500 mil overall, your total for picking it would be just $250 mil. So, think carefully before you select that film.
As always please pick 5 films. If you only vote for 4 or if you pick 6, you are a fool and we do not suffer fools gladly. Also, in case you are new to this, we are basing this on domestic boxoffice receipts only, not how the film does on Rotten Tomatoes or whether it sells a ton of tickets in Bangladesh.
Here are the contenders:
Avengers: Endgame (April 25/May 1)
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (May 10)
John Wick: Chapter 3 (May 17)
Aladdin (May 24)
Godzilla: King of Monsters (May31)
The Secret Life of Pets 2 (June 7)
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (June 7)
Men in Black: International (June 14)
Toy Story 4 (June 21)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 5)
The Lion King (July 19)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (July 26)
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (August 2)
Field (any film not mentioned above)
Of note, if you pick the field, you do not need to name the film you are picking. I am sure we would all like to hear why you think Brightburn is going to set records or why you think Rocketman is the next Bohemian Rhapsody, but you will get credit if you pick field because of one of those but then Shaft ends up being this summer's Hangover and making $350 million.
Ok, any questions? Did I leave anything out? Have at it!
-Jason "voting will close on April 25th... prior to the opening of Endgame" Evans