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Movie grosses were up, tickets were down, minds were blown and sniffles unavoidable as Andy packed for college and sent Woody, Buzz, Jessie and pals into a toy tizzy.
The books close today on summer 2010, and it was a season when "Toy Story 3" leapfrogged to the No. 1 spot for the year, Sylvester Stallone muscled past "The A-Team," and the top 10 summer movies were rated G, PG or PG-13.
Projected grosses for the first weekend in May through Labor Day are a record $4.35 billion, up 2.35 percent from 2009, hollywood.com reports. That is due to higher ticket prices, now averaging $7.88 rather than the $7.50 of 2009.
On the attendance side of the ledger, hollywood.com projects an estimated 552 million tickets sold, a drop from almost 567 million in summer 2009.
After all, "Just Wright" might be just right for a Redbox rental and moviegoers burned by "MacGruber" weren't eager to shell out more money for, say, "Jonah Hex" or to watch Charlie St. Cloud play catch with his dead brother. Sorry, Zac Efron.
We may never see the likes again of summer 2002 when more than 653 million tickets were sold to such blockbusters as "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones."
Neither, of course, was in 3-D and box office expert Paul Dergarabedian says of summer 2010, "The biggest surprise is though the top movie was a 3-D movie, that 3-D wasn't a bigger factor this summer."
PDFThe president of the box office division of hollywood.com added in a phone interview, "Some of the best movies and some of the biggest grossing movies of the summer were not even 3-D movies."
Many people saw "Toy Story 3" in plain old 2-D and still marveled at its heart and humor. It and "Inception" were the brightest spots of the summer.
"Those two movies killed it. They were just perfect summer movies. One was super-brainy -- 'Inception' -- with a great director and begged for repeat viewing. It's a studio executive's dream come true."
Christopher Nolan is that rare filmmaker who deserves the label of visionary, Mr. Dergarabedian suggests, while Pixar is "unstoppable, unbeatable and they just can do no wrong," as the third "Toy Story" proved when it crossed the $400 million mark in North America.
Moviegoers are more willing to pay a premium for IMAX tickets than 3-D because some folks still cannot get past those pesky glasses.
"The immersive, subtle 3-D experience is great for certain movies, but when you're spending that extra three or four bucks on a ticket, some people want that in-your-face 3-D experience. I want to know I'm watching 3-D if I'm paying for it," Mr. Dergarabedian reasons.
However, the additional $3 to $5 for 3-D boosted "The Last Airbender," a release branded the summer's biggest disappointment and most painful family film in a Movies.com survey.
"Last Airbender" was much maligned, with 136 negative reviews out of 146 on rottentomatoes.com, but it finished the summer at No. 9. "That film and 'Karate Kid' both benefitted from being solid PG-rated family adventures that took them around the world," Mr. Dergarabedian said.
Winging their way around the Web are moviegoer opinions via Twitter, Facebook and other social networks which compressed the thumb's up or down time line.
"It used to be that word of mouth could either hurt or help your film within a matter of days or a week," Mr. Dergarabedian says. "Now, word of mouth, because of social networking, can hurt or help your movie within a matter of hours."
If "Takers" and "The Last Exorcism" are locked in a battle for first place for the weekend, a Tweet or a Facebook verdict can make the difference.
The box-office analyst sees 2010 as a transitional year with summer 2011 promising (many in 3-D): "Thor," "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," "The Hangover 2," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "X-Men: First Class," "Green Lantern," "Cars 2," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II," "Captain America: The First Avenger," "Cowboys & Aliens," "21 Jump Street" and "Spy Kids 4."
And if 2012 doesn't spell the end of the world, that summer will bring "The Avengers," "Madagascar 3," "Men in Black III," "Star Trek" sequel, Spider-Man reboot with Andrew Garfield, "Ice Age: Continental Drift" and a third Batman picture.
"Come on. Are you kidding me? You've got 'Spider-Man,' 'Batman,' 'The Avengers' and 'Men in Black' all in one summer," says Mr. Dergarabedian, anticipating what could be a record season.
A look at the summer that Iron Man launched and George Clooney, Machete, Drew Barrymore and Justin Long closed:
Worst title: "Knight & Day," the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz romantic thriller that was far better than anyone anticipated.
Celebrity reunion-vacation masquerading as a family comedy: "Grown Ups."
Batting comic cleanup: Michael Keaton in "Toy Story 3" as Ken and "The Other Guys" as a police captain who moonlights at Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Like father, like son: Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith, more than held his own against Jackie Chan in a retooling of "The Karate Kid."
Most valuable actress: Angelina Jolie for "Salt." She is the only woman to carry a movie in the top 10 although Kristen Stewart obviously contributed to the success of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" along with co-stars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. Which leads to ...
Summer sensation: Mr. Lautner filming "Abduction" in Pittsburgh and surprising moviegoers at the AMC-Loews July 3 and posing for fans or acknowledging vigils outside his house made the summer for countless teens.
Boo-hoo: Women anxiously awaited two big releases, "Sex and the City 2" and "Eat Pray Love." But then they encountered Charlotte from "SATC" complaining about being overwhelmed -- despite being a stay-at-home mom with a full-time nanny. And we should all be so lucky to have Elizabeth Gilbert's travel agenda and screen stand-in (Julia Roberts) in "Eat Pray Love."
Gender divide: Women accounted for 72 percent of the audience for "Eat Pray Love" but they were also 49 percent of "The Expendables," which means they were either dragged along on date night or had a hankering for hunks.
Disappointments: Given budgets and talent, "The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."
Best use of 3-D: The year could bring 22 movies in 3-D but only seven arrived in the summer, with "Despicable Me" and "Step Up 3-D" demonstrating how best to use the gimmick. "Toy Story 3" was so good, it didn't need it.
Worst use of 3-D: "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore."
Best odd couple: Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell as "The Other Guys."
Family time: It was a great summer to be a kid whose parents love the drive-in. Nothing like putting on your lightweight jammies and settling in to watch "Shrek Forever After," "Marmaduke" or "Ramona and Beezus."
Proof that geeks don't always rule: "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," enthusiastically promoted at Comic-Con International and the beneficiary of good reviews, has made less than "Vampires Suck" or "Charlie St. Cloud." Some blame star Michael Cera but others question the muddled marketing.
August surprise: Last year, August delivered "Inglourious Basterds" and "District 9," both of which were nominated for best picture in an expanded Oscar category. This August brought "Lottery Ticket," "The Switch" and "Piranha 3D." Hmm.
Oscar buzz: Unlike summer '09, which gave us Jeremy Renner in "Hurt Locker," Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds" and Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia," the buzz is a faint hum this year. Leading the pack are "Toy Story 3," "Inception," Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone," Robert Duvall for "Get Low" and maybe the women of "The Kids Are All Right."
Guilty pleasures: Sci-fi film "Splice," until it goes off the rails with a creepy coupling, and "Piranha 3D," although it pandered to teen and twentysomething men with female nudity.
A bad omen: Before a showing of "Scott Pilgrim," a trailer for "The Devil" came on and just the name M. Night Shyamalan (he came up with the story and served as a producer) elicited hisses and boos.
DVD, here we come: "Inception," which has no official release date but could arrive in December and settle or reignite debate about the ending.
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