Predicting the rest of 2015's blockbusters

Last month I speculated about the financial future of 2015, already the year with the largest amount amount of losses if you count its top 5 bombs. But even then there was a chance of it rebounding – all it needed are a few hits.

Jurassic World certainly helped fortunes and as What Culture points out, if the next Star Wars is a big hit, 2015 will be home to four of the seven highest grossing movies of all time. The site uses this as a kick-off for guessing just what may earn big at the box office during the rest of this year:

• Pixels
  With a predicted $325 million it would make this game-themed movie Adam Sandler’s biggest hit. But I suspect all the best jokes were in the trailer.

• Fantastic Four
  This is predicted to make at least $350 million, which would eclipse the previous FF films. Given it’s Marvel, the least it should do is crack the $300 million mark.

• The Hateful Eight
  Tarantino is back and dishing out more spaghetti Westerns. Will he hit $375 million? Even with inflation adjusted it is much higher than Pulp Fiction or Django Unchained – much as I love Tarantino, this is a stretch for a single-location film.

• Ant Man
  What Culture thinks this could make $500 million, which is certainly not impossible for a Marvel film. If it lives up to its marketing, Ant Man could be a big hit.

• The Good Dinosaur
  It’s a Pixar one-two for fans this year. Seeing how well Inside Out is doing, the studio’s long-awaited tale of a boy and his dinosaur could go north of $600 million.

• Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
  Tom Cruise may have been suffering some misses, but the previous Mission Impossible did great. Still, $650 million for Rogue Nation? That’s a high target…

• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
  This is really a no-brainer. Even the $900 million What Culture predicts the next Hunger Games will make is probably low. Katniss can’t miss.

• Minions
  The Despicable Me spin-off is about to be released and may come very close to the billion dollar mark, matching the global earnings of the previous movie in the series.

• Spectre
  Perhaps afraid of looking stupid, What Culture won’t predict over a billion dollars for the next James Bond. But after the response the average Skyfall had, Spectre could easily break the bank.

• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  This won’t simply do well – What culture expects the new Star Wars to be the year’s outright winner with $1.8 billion. That would make it the third-highest grossing movie ever.

Last Updated: July 8, 2015