Shannon Keough“The Hangover,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “The Proposal” and “My Sister’s Keeper” are just some of the movies that hit the big screen this summer.
Much anticipated sequelslike “Transformers” and “Harry Potter” raked in much money and media attention throughout the summer months.
On its opening day on June 24, the “Transformers” sequel made an astounding $60.6 million when it appeared on 9,700 screens, including a record 169 IMAX venues according to boxofficemojo.com. It was estimated that $16 million alone came from the midnight showing of this action-packed sequel, in which Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) again joins with the Autobots against their largest enemy, the Decepticons.
Then, on July 15, throngs of Harry Potter fans showed up for the release of the long-awaited “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” It had been two years since the last movie in the series, the longest wait yet.
“The Half-Blood Prince” made $158 million in the first five days, having the highest-grossing five-day start of all the Harry Potter movies. Even though the IMAX showings of “The Half-Blood Prince” were delayed due to “Transformers,” it hit 165 IMAX screens on July 29 and included some scary scenes.
“‘The Half-Blood Prince’ was the darkest of the Harry Potter movies, but it was amazing,” Megan Bernatavitz, senior communication major, said.
Although these sequels were liked by many, unmistakably one of the most popular movies this summer among college students was the comedy “The Hangover.”
“‘The Hangover’ was my favorite movie of the summer,” Lindsay Buckley, senior elementary education major said. “I saw it twice in the movie theater and it was even funnier the second time because I caught on to funny parts that I missed the first time when I was laughing so hard.”
Kelsey Montgomery, senior early childhood and elementary education major, said, “‘The Hangover’ was my favorite. I never laughed so much in my life and it’s the only movie I’ve gone back to see twice [in the theater].”
Despite the poor economy, the movie theater industry is still doing well and ticket sales have actually gone up this year by 17.5 percent, according to the New York Times. Attendance at theaters has risen by nearly 16 percent, proving that, while many people are making other cutbacks to save money, the movies is not one of them.
“I still think a lot of people went to the movies this summer despite the economy,” Tyler Rooke, freshman secondary education major, said. “I saw a lot of movies this summer because it rained a lot.”
Students had different opinions on whether to attend the movies this summer, however. “I didn’t see many movies this summer because I didn’t feel like paying for them,” Greg Adams, sophomore photography major, said. “I had better things to use my money towards.”
Some other summer movies geared towards young adults included “Bruno,” “Funny People,” “The Proposal,” “Orphan,” “Julie & Julia” and “The Ugly Truth.”
“My favorite movie of the summer was ‘Julie & Julia,'” Bernatavitz said. “It gave me inspiration that I can do more in life because Julia Child didn’t have much experience cooking and then became one of the most influential people in cooking history.”
