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Predicting summer's 25 biggest blockbuster movies

Written by
Brent DiCrescenzo
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With the batshit action brilliance of Furious 7 hitting theaters this weekend, the summer movie season arrives early this year. This upcoming slate of blockbusters looks to be one of the biggest in history with action antiheroes of the '80s like Mad Max, the Terminator and, er, Pac-Man returning to the big screen, not to mention follow-ups to recent surprise hits like Ted and Pitch Perfect. Then again, there is the stink of turkey to much of the upcoming movie slate as well. Let's not forget that just about every major genre flick bombed in 2014. We've told you the biggest summer movies of 2015 that we're looking forward to, but now we're going out on a limb and predicting the (domestic) box office successes of 25 major releases.

Entourage (June 5) Way too late. Way too douche. Coupons stuck to Axe cans couldn't make this a winner. $35M

Straight Outta Compton (August 14) Ice Cube always draws, and Dr. Dre will promote this inside his headphones or whatever, but will the masses run out to see the story behind "Fuck tha Police"? Still, we're itching to see this. $36M

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (April 17) We get kicked in our soul groin whenever this trailer runs before movies…and gets a bunch of popcorn-spraying guffaws. Why, 'Merica, why? $45M

Max (June 26) As this is essentially American Sniper: The Puppy, we were tempted to put this in the No. 1 slot. $48M

Aloha (May 29) Bradley Cooper is a soldier! However, Cameron Crowe wrote/directed. We'll estimate his latest vanilla schmaltz somewhere between Elizabethtown and We Bought a Zoo. $50M

Man from U.N.C.L.E. (August 14) People saw Man of Steel because of Superman, not because of What's His Nuts playing him. Also costarring the Lone Ranger! Guy Ritchie's reboot of a forgotten property looks swingin' and cool, but this reeks of failure. $50M

Vacation (July 31) We're the Millers made a shocking amount of money, but we're seeing Horrible Bosses 2 money for this unnecessary reboot with Ed Helms. Don't fuck with John Hughes! $54M

Trainwrecks (July 17) Judd Apatow's latest stars two very funny people—Amy Schumer and Bill Hader. Still, they ain't household names. Ballpark it near This Is 40$60M

Pan (July 24) When will Hollywood learn nobody cares about gritty origin stories of fairy tale characters? Hugh Jackman with a silly beard equals the next Jack the Giant Slayer. $65M

Ted 2 (June 26) Despite the runaway success of this dirty teddy bear tale, the previews look positively dreadful. And Seth MacFarlane isn't washing off the stink of his western dud that easily. $70M

San Andreas (May 29) This CGI disaster porn is a sleeper, and a flashback to all those volcano and asteroid movies of the '90s. The Rock puts butts in seats. Hercules made this much. Hercules! Who saw that? $80M 

Tomorrowland (May 22) Pixar directors doing live action (well, mostly live) have not fared well, nor has Clooney of late. The effects look tacky. It won't be John Carter, but it won't do much better. $90M 

Poltergeist (May 22) Don't be surprised if this solid-looking remake bests Tomorrowland. Horror plays well, and is a rarity in summer. The PG-13 rating will help. $90M

Mad Max: Fury Road (May 15) Lock it in: This will be the most jaw-dropping amazing movie of the summer. But too hardcore, smart and strange for the masses. Edge of Tomorrow was great, and look how that did. $100M

Fantastic Four (Aug 7) An intriguing trailer has course-corrected this comic book reboot after piles of bad buzz during production. With no big star and the cheesy aftertaste of its predecessors, we can't see this filling the X-Men's spandex. $110M

Magic Mike XXL (July 1) No McConaughey, no Steven Soderbergh hurts, as does the family-centric weekend. That being said: Channing Tatum's abs. $111M

Pixels (July 24) Or, Night at the Arcade. The video game nostalgia factor is alluring, but the public is starting to get as apathetic towards Adam Sandler as he is to his career. $140M

Pitch Perfect 2 (May 15) Oddly, the first one wasn't that huge in the theaters. It was "Cups" and video that blew up later. Sequelitis puts a dent in a rather easy success. $150M

Inside Out (June 19) Though the cast and concept tickle us, Pixar's psychological latest could be over the head of most kids. $175M

Terminator: Genisys (July 1) Hollywood has a false notion of how much we care about this saga. $190M

Spy (June 5) Trust us: This is very, very funny. 22 Jump Street raked it in. This Bridesmaids-meets-Bond could do better. $191M 

Minions (July 10) Kids, man. This should shut them up for 90 minutes. $200M

Jurassic World (June 12) Trailers have somehow made this long-developed sequel seem both too silly (conceptually) and too serious (Chris Pratt–wise). It will disappoint. $202M

Ant-Man (July 17) Marvel knows what it's doing, and it's hard to bet against them, but this in no way can earn Captain America cash. $220M

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (July 31) Going Clear replanted the Kooky Cruise seed in the public mind, and he's lost his golden touch. Sad, as his last few have been interesting and cool. Yet this franchise always fares well, and the stunts look insane. $250M

Furious 7 (Friday) Bound to make as many hundreds of millions as Vin Diesel has folds in his neck. $300M

Avengers: Age of Ultron The Hulk in the room, this is to be measured in billions. It could break the all-time record…until Star Wars VII. $700M

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