01of 26Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox/REX/Shutterstock; Paramount; Justin Lubin/UniversalJaws. Jurassic Park. Star Wars.Summer movies have a penchant for sending chills down our spines and keeping our eyes glued to the big screen. They also score the big bucks — and spots in the pop culture canon.Get your popcorn ready and enjoy this list of some of the most major summer movies from the past 25 years to add to your watch list or revisit this season.Box office figures courtesyboxofficemojo.com.
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Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox/REX/Shutterstock; Paramount; Justin Lubin/Universal
Jaws. Jurassic Park. Star Wars.Summer movies have a penchant for sending chills down our spines and keeping our eyes glued to the big screen. They also score the big bucks — and spots in the pop culture canon.
Get your popcorn ready and enjoy this list of some of the most major summer movies from the past 25 years to add to your watch list or revisit this season.
Box office figures courtesyboxofficemojo.com.
02of 26Rocky (1976)All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$117,235,147Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a small-time boxer looking for a way out of his working-class life in Philadelphia. He’s arbitrarily chosen to take on the world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), when the fighter’s opponent gets injured. Rocky starts an intense training regimen while also building a relationship with his friend’s sister — and the rest is movie history.
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Rocky (1976)
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$117,235,147
Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a small-time boxer looking for a way out of his working-class life in Philadelphia. He’s arbitrarily chosen to take on the world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), when the fighter’s opponent gets injured. Rocky starts an intense training regimen while also building a relationship with his friend’s sister — and the rest is movie history.
03of 26Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox/REX/ShutterstockAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$460,998,507The movie that started it all … from a galaxy far, far away. The first film in the larger-than-lifeStar Warsfranchise documents the beginning of Luke Skywalker’s journey to becoming a Jedi. It features a young Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill and grossed more than$775 million worldwide.
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Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox/REX/Shutterstock
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$460,998,507
The movie that started it all … from a galaxy far, far away. The first film in the larger-than-lifeStar Warsfranchise documents the beginning of Luke Skywalker’s journey to becoming a Jedi. It features a young Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill and grossed more than$775 million worldwide.
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Jaws (1975)
Courtesy Everett Collection
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$260,758,300
05of 26Grease (1978)Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta inGrease(1978).Paramount Pictures/Fotos International/GettyAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$190,071,103It was named the most successful movie musical of all time — and it has a $396 million international gross to prove it. The ’50s-era film follows clean-cut Aussie transplant Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) and leather-donning bad boy Danny (John Travolta), who have a summer romance that crosses cliques and focuses on friendships, love and adventure in a time when everything was a bit simpler. (Oh, those summer nights!)
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Grease (1978)
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta inGrease(1978).Paramount Pictures/Fotos International/Getty
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$190,071,103
It was named the most successful movie musical of all time — and it has a $396 million international gross to prove it. The ’50s-era film follows clean-cut Aussie transplant Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) and leather-donning bad boy Danny (John Travolta), who have a summer romance that crosses cliques and focuses on friendships, love and adventure in a time when everything was a bit simpler. (Oh, those summer nights!)
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The Godfather(1972)
Paramount Pictures/REX/Shutterstock
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$134,966,411
07of 26Mommie Dearest (1981)Michael Ochs Archives/GettyAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$19,032,261The biographical retelling of Joan Crawford’s (Faye Dunaway) decision to take in two orphans, the film follows what appears to be a happy, functional family but soon turns to show daughter Christina’s (Diana Scarwid) perspective on an abusive mom feeling resentful from broken relationships and her waning MGM contract. The movie — and the book it’s based on — both came out after Joan’s 1977 death.
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Mommie Dearest (1981)
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$19,032,261
The biographical retelling of Joan Crawford’s (Faye Dunaway) decision to take in two orphans, the film follows what appears to be a happy, functional family but soon turns to show daughter Christina’s (Diana Scarwid) perspective on an abusive mom feeling resentful from broken relationships and her waning MGM contract. The movie — and the book it’s based on — both came out after Joan’s 1977 death.
08of 26Flashdance (1983)Paramount/Kobal/ShutterstockAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$92,921,203A beautiful young woman, Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals), works in a steel mill during the day and a bar at night. She notices that her boss, Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri), is interested in her and supportive of her dancing career. Thus, she strives to get accepted into a renowned dance conservatory. It’s all so ’80s.
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Flashdance (1983)
Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$92,921,203
A beautiful young woman, Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals), works in a steel mill during the day and a bar at night. She notices that her boss, Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri), is interested in her and supportive of her dancing career. Thus, she strives to get accepted into a renowned dance conservatory. It’s all so ’80s.
09of 26Footloose (1984)CBS via GettyAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$80,035,402Newcomer Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon) moves from Chicago to a small Midwest town that’s banned dancing and made rock music illegal. In typical protagonist form, as he tries to fit in — which is a struggle — he fights an uphill battle to change the views of the townspeople. He finds help and solace within his own group of defiant peers (including Sarah Jessica Parker’s Rusty), though the local reverend, Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), tries to hinder this growth.
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Footloose (1984)
CBS via Getty
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$80,035,402
Newcomer Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon) moves from Chicago to a small Midwest town that’s banned dancing and made rock music illegal. In typical protagonist form, as he tries to fit in — which is a struggle — he fights an uphill battle to change the views of the townspeople. He finds help and solace within his own group of defiant peers (including Sarah Jessica Parker’s Rusty), though the local reverend, Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), tries to hinder this growth.
10of 26Coming to America (1988)Paramount/Kobal/REX/ShutterstockAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$128,152,301To escape an arranged marriage, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) — a wealthy royal from a fictional African country — flees to America with his companion Semmi (Arsenio Hall) to find his true princess in Queens. It’s a great comedy, with James Earl Jones scoring laughs as Akeem’s dad, and is one of Eddie Murphy’s highest-grossing movies with $288 million worldwide.
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Coming to America (1988)
Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$128,152,301
To escape an arranged marriage, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) — a wealthy royal from a fictional African country — flees to America with his companion Semmi (Arsenio Hall) to find his true princess in Queens. It’s a great comedy, with James Earl Jones scoring laughs as Akeem’s dad, and is one of Eddie Murphy’s highest-grossing movies with $288 million worldwide.
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Batman (1989)
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$251,348,343
In the first movie telling of the Batman story, the superhero (Michael Keaton) witnesses his parents' murder as a child and grows up to be a millionaire philanthropist who fights crime in Gotham City disguised as Batman. He takes on his archnemesis, The Joker (Jack Nicholson), who wishes to seize control of Gotham City’s criminal underworld. All the while, he works to conceal his identity and protect his love interest, reporter Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger).
12of 26Men in Black (1997)Columbia/EverettAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$250,690,539Here come the Men in Black! Specifically, Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) and Jay (Will Smith), “providers of immigration services and regulators of all things alien on earth,” as the AP summary goes. While doing their highly classified day jobs, they discover an assassination plot — after all, they’re “the first, last and only line of defense against the worst scum of the universe.”
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Men in Black (1997)
Columbia/Everett
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$250,690,539
Here come the Men in Black! Specifically, Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) and Jay (Will Smith), “providers of immigration services and regulators of all things alien on earth,” as the AP summary goes. While doing their highly classified day jobs, they discover an assassination plot — after all, they’re “the first, last and only line of defense against the worst scum of the universe.”
13of 26Titanic (1997)ParamountAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$659,363,944We don’t even need to tell you the plot of this one (right?), only that theLeonardo DiCaprioand Kate Winslet classic is the third-highest-grossing film of all time, with a staggering $2.2 BILLION worldwide.
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Titanic (1997)
Paramount
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$659,363,944
We don’t even need to tell you the plot of this one (right?), only that theLeonardo DiCaprioand Kate Winslet classic is the third-highest-grossing film of all time, with a staggering $2.2 BILLION worldwide.
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The Fugitive (1993)
STEPHEN VAUGHAN
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$183,875,760
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Independence Day (1996)
20th Century Studios
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$306,169,268
16of 26Jurassic Park (1993)EverettAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$404,214,720In Stephen Spielberg’s terrifying fan favorite, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) join mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to tour an island theme park full of dinosaurs who were essentially brought life using prehistoric DNA. The park’s wealthy investor and creator, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), assures that everyone is safe. (As if!) The ferocious dinosaurs break free and go on a rampage, and you can probably guess what happens next.
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Jurassic Park (1993)
Everett
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$404,214,720
In Stephen Spielberg’s terrifying fan favorite, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) join mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to tour an island theme park full of dinosaurs who were essentially brought life using prehistoric DNA. The park’s wealthy investor and creator, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), assures that everyone is safe. (As if!) The ferocious dinosaurs break free and go on a rampage, and you can probably guess what happens next.
17of 26Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)EverettAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$318,087,620In the first adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s super-popular kids' books, Harry Potter finds out on his 11th birthday that he is the orphan of two powerful wizards. He also finds out that he possesses powers, too, and is summoned to Hogwarts — a mystical English boarding school for wizards. While there, he makes friends, rolls with the punches and finds out more about his parents' deaths.
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$318,087,620
In the first adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s super-popular kids' books, Harry Potter finds out on his 11th birthday that he is the orphan of two powerful wizards. He also finds out that he possesses powers, too, and is summoned to Hogwarts — a mystical English boarding school for wizards. While there, he makes friends, rolls with the punches and finds out more about his parents' deaths.
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The Dark Knight (2008)
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$534,858,444
In arguably the best Batman film in the franchise, Christian Bale plays Batman and Heath Ledger plays a terrifying young Joker. Over the course of the film, Batman is constantly called to choose between heroism and vigilantism. The movie scored eight Oscar nods and its late star, Ledger, earned one posthumously for his supporting role.
19of 26Night at the Museum (2006)Doane Gregory/20th Century StudiosAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$250,863,268As a struggling artist, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) has dreams of becoming something bigger, but he isn’t quite sure what. So he takes a job as a security guard at N.Y.C.’s Natural History Museum to help pay the bills. During his first shift, he makes the surprising discovery that the artifacts in the museum come to life at night thanks to an Egyptian curse — and he gets tied up in some of the crazy characters' antics.
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Night at the Museum (2006)
Doane Gregory/20th Century Studios
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$250,863,268
As a struggling artist, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) has dreams of becoming something bigger, but he isn’t quite sure what. So he takes a job as a security guard at N.Y.C.’s Natural History Museum to help pay the bills. During his first shift, he makes the surprising discovery that the artifacts in the museum come to life at night thanks to an Egyptian curse — and he gets tied up in some of the crazy characters' antics.
20of 26Transformers (2007)DreamWorks/ParamountAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$319,246,193In this revamped tale of the autobots (good guys) vs. the decepticons (villains), the fate of humanity is at stake as the robots bring their war to Earth. These robots can transform into any mechanical device as they strive to seek power. A human youth, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), is the only one who can save the world from their furor.
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Transformers (2007)
DreamWorks/Paramount
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$319,246,193
In this revamped tale of the autobots (good guys) vs. the decepticons (villains), the fate of humanity is at stake as the robots bring their war to Earth. These robots can transform into any mechanical device as they strive to seek power. A human youth, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), is the only one who can save the world from their furor.
21of 26The Matrix Reloaded (2003)The Matrix Reloaded(2003).Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$281,576,461The sequel to the ’90s classic features freedom fighters Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who continue to fight the good fight against the Machine Army. During their mission to save humanity from extinction, they learn more about the Matrix and Neo’s role in the fate of mankind. Interestingly, it grossed more than the original.
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The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Matrix Reloaded(2003).Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$281,576,461
The sequel to the ’90s classic features freedom fighters Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who continue to fight the good fight against the Machine Army. During their mission to save humanity from extinction, they learn more about the Matrix and Neo’s role in the fate of mankind. Interestingly, it grossed more than the original.
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Baldur Bragason/Columbia
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$102,515,793
23of 26Get Out (2017)Justin LubinAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$176,040,665The first film from Jordan Peele features Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams), who have reached the meet-the-parents part of dating. Upon arriving, Chris notices that the family is very accommodating, but he still gets an eerie vibe. Over the course of the weekend, he notices that his inclinations are right and that their behaviors are just coverups for truths that are heinous and wicked.
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Get Out (2017)
Justin Lubin
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$176,040,665
The first film from Jordan Peele features Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams), who have reached the meet-the-parents part of dating. Upon arriving, Chris notices that the family is very accommodating, but he still gets an eerie vibe. Over the course of the weekend, he notices that his inclinations are right and that their behaviors are just coverups for truths that are heinous and wicked.
24of 26Avengers: Endgame (2019)©Marvel Studios 2019All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$858,373,000In this pivotal moment in the Marvel universe, the Avengers — Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) — must figure out a way to bring back their defeated allies in order to compete in a final battle with Thanos, the evil demigod who destroyed the planet and universe. The first half of the Marvel franchise definitely went out with a bang, and its $2.798 billion international gross amplifies that sentiment
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Avengers: Endgame (2019)
©Marvel Studios 2019
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$858,373,000
In this pivotal moment in the Marvel universe, the Avengers — Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) — must figure out a way to bring back their defeated allies in order to compete in a final battle with Thanos, the evil demigod who destroyed the planet and universe. The first half of the Marvel franchise definitely went out with a bang, and its $2.798 billion international gross amplifies that sentiment
25of 26Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)Alex Bailey/FoxAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$216,668,042This biographical telling of the life of the legendary rock band Queen focuses on its unconventional leader, Freddie Mercury. The band’s look and sound helped skyrocket its appeal in the 1970s, and this movie does a good job of explaining what happened behind the scenes and on stage. This was a standout role for star Rami Malek, who played Mercury in the movie and picked up an Oscar for his work.
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Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Alex Bailey/Fox
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$216,668,042
This biographical telling of the life of the legendary rock band Queen focuses on its unconventional leader, Freddie Mercury. The band’s look and sound helped skyrocket its appeal in the 1970s, and this movie does a good job of explaining what happened behind the scenes and on stage. This was a standout role for star Rami Malek, who played Mercury in the movie and picked up an Oscar for his work.
26of 26Spectre (2015)Stephen Vaughan/Columbia PicturesAll-time Domestic Box Office Take:$200,074,609James Bond (David Craig) receives a cryptic message from his past, which leads him to Mexico City and Rome. Here he meets the widow (Monica Bellucci) of an infamous criminal. After uncovering a meeting with the infamous evil organization SPECTRE, he decides that he must stop the group’s dark plans as only James Bond can.
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Spectre (2015)
Stephen Vaughan/Columbia Pictures
All-time Domestic Box Office Take:$200,074,609
James Bond (David Craig) receives a cryptic message from his past, which leads him to Mexico City and Rome. Here he meets the widow (Monica Bellucci) of an infamous criminal. After uncovering a meeting with the infamous evil organization SPECTRE, he decides that he must stop the group’s dark plans as only James Bond can.
source: people.com
