Summertime at the multiplex usually means sequels and movies adapted from comic books, TV shows and novels, and this year is no exception. Brandon Gray, president and publisher of Box Office Mojo, a Web site that tracks box office revenues, talked to 210SA about why Hollywood relies on these standbys.

Why don’t we see any original movies among the summer blockbuster lineup?

Hollywood resorts to sequels, comic book adaptations and other franchise fare during the summer because it’s easy to do. The industry is creatively bankrupt, and these types of pictures perform consistently at the box office.

Then why not release them all year long?

It’s reserved for summer because more people are off from work or school during the summer so there’s a greater base of moviegoers. ..... The only stronger period for moviegoing during the entire year is Christmas through New Year’s.

Summer is primetime for big movies, but big movies can work at any time of the year. It is kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy that summer is the biggest overall period because Hollywood rarely tries to release these movies at other times of the year. ..... It’s just the way, over the years, how the release schedule has been cultivated that people look for the summer for these types of movies more so than other times of the year. And if an event picture is released in January or February or something like that, there is a bit of suspicion about the merit, simply because it does seem out of place.

Do the biggest movies of the year always come out during the summer?

One consistently sees the highest-grossing movies of the year coming out in the summertime. Last year, the top five movies came out in the summer: ‘Spiderman 3,’ ‘Shrek the Third,’ ‘Transformers,’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.’ In 2006, four of the top five were released in the summer (‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,’ ‘Cars,’ ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ and the ‘Da Vinci Code’).

So what are you expecting to be the top grossers this summer?

It’s tricky. There are a few pictures that clearly want to be huge. It’s up in the air just how big they will be. Like ‘Hancock,’ the Will Smith raggedy-superhero (movie) is a big Independence Day weekend title. Just how big it will be is a concern, especially after ‘I Am Legend,’ which was a very high-grossing picture but no doubt had a mixed word of mouth. This being the next Will Smith vehicle, it may suffer from that. Not to mention the marketing of the picture; it’s not the straightforward superhero movie. There’s a comedic element. That may detract.

The clear contenders for the top grossers of the season are ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Hancock,’ ‘Wall-E,’ ‘Dark Knight.’ But the picture with the most heat on it is ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,’ despite its clumsy title.

Jessica Belasco | 210SA Contributor