Marvel soared while Adam Sandler floundered.
Its been a surprisingly strong summer season, in truth.
So as the summer of 2014 winds to a close, heres what we took out of it…
The gamble on the Russo brothers to direct the film was also comfortably won.
Joss WhedonsAvengerssequel is up next, and thats not going to break Marvels winning streak.
And right now, who would bet againstAnt-Meneither?
The only mild fly in the ointment is a decline in the American audience.
But it doesnt really matter what he does next right now.
Summer 2014 hasBad Neighbours(Neighborsin the US),22 Jump Street, TammyandSex Tapeamongst its releases.
Two of those delivered in considerable box office style.
In the UK, meanwhile,The Inbetweeners 2has already enjoyed the best single day opening of the year.
A very British entry, this.
Mrs Browns Boys DMoviefirstly.
At least one sequel is on the way, and a 2015 arena tour has already been announced.
12.5m after five days.
It would be fair to say that both brought home the bacon.
Lucyis the particularly impressive achievement here.
The films overall total should cross $200m by the time its done.
This year, she has very much got her just reward.
Lets hope Hollywood takes notice.
As such,Divergentkicked off another one, relatively successfully, back in March.
But the big breakthrough wasThe Fault In Our Stars,which gave Shailene Woodley a second well-deserved hit movie.
The film has done a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office.
Next to go for the young adult audience?
Gareth Edwards cerebral rebooting ofGodzillaoutperformed expectations, and a sequel has been ordered.
Theres proof here after all that it can work, and still bring home box office gold.
Predictably, many of 2014s successful films will have new chapters in 2016.
But if we are stuck with sequels, wed far rather have good ones… Maleficentsold heavily off the back of her starring performance, which in truth made the film.
But, as has been lengthily discussed, theSpider-Manseries is not a franchise experiencing growth.
The tail ofCaptain America: The Winter Soldierdid not help it there.
More spin-offs, including Venom, are planned.
Its not as if the competition isnt fierce…
Certainly the studio isnt having the easiest of times.
The problem withHow To Train Your Dragon 2is one of expectation.
This isnt a similar case toThe Amazing Spider-Man 2either.
For the second summer running, Tom Cruise starred in a standalone sci-fi movie.
We always quite likedOblivion, but this yearsEdge Of Tomorrowwas something really special.
Unfortunately,Edge Of Tomorrow whilst moderately successful stumbled a little at the box office.
Whats more, outside of America, Cruise still clearly sells tickets.
Its his US audience thats mainly leaving him alone.
We hope were proven wrong there.
On the downside for Warner Bros, Clint Eastwood directed movies havent been too interesting for a while now.
WhenJersey Boyswas first mooted for the big screen, it wasIron Manhelmer Jon Favreau who was in charge.
Eastwood didnt seem that interested in making that film at all.
And whilst hisJersey Boyswas decent, a film to spark a summer audience into life it was not.
It silently sank at the box office, taking under $60m worldwide.
Profitable, certainly, but only just.
His reteaming with Drew Barrymore for the third time, inBlended, looked like a positive step.
But whilst it wasnt Sandlers worst of recent times, Blended still won itself few friends amongst critics.
More surprisingly, it won itself few friends amongst the audience too.
It made $85m worldwide, but again, it didnt break $50m in the States.
Comedy that goes through similar routines doesnt always strike gold, it seems.
MacFarlane is heading back to the safer waters ofTed 2next.
A surprise, this.
Likewise, the perfectly fineOculusalso arguably suffered as a result of scheduling.
It would be fair to say thatCaptain Americawon.
In both cases, the films in question didnt appear to be the core of the problem.
Rather than pitting them against major blockbusters didnt appear to be the best way to sell them.
It certainly throws down the gauntlet for summer 2015…
