The Fourth of July is always a big weekend for summer movies, as extra days off for the majority of Americans translates to more free time and more ticket sales at the box office. If you didn't head to the theater this holiday weekend, don't worry -- you weren't alone.
"Transformers: Age of Extinction" held strong as the top movie at the box office over the July 4 weekend with $36.4 million, but it is a bit of a hollow victory. Overall, the top 12 grossing films over the weekend earned a combined $118.5 million in four days.
According to Box Office Mojo, that's a steep 47 percent drop from last year's Fourth and the worst July 4 weekend since 1999. When adjusting for inflation it is even worse, making it the worst July 4 weekend since 1987.
So what happened? Last year the cowboy tentpole "The Lone Ranger" released the week of July 4, but didn't fare well critically or financially. The real boost came from the family-friendly "Despicable Me 2," which brought in more than $83 million its opening weekend.
Looking at this year's film lineup, nothing really stands out in an attempt to attract the "family" market. "How to Train Your Dragon 2" released weeks ago and isn't doing as well as many hoped. The found-footage film "Earth to Echo" attempted to capture some of that audience with its "E.T." inspired story, but failed to resonate with audiences and brought in a measly $8.3 million for its long weekend debut.
Comedy is also an important genre to have represented over the long weekend, and while "Tammy," starring Melissa McCarthy, didn't make a huge splash, earning $21.2 million over the weekend, it is a solid start for the so far for the critically-panned film.
What you don't usually find on Independence Day weekend are horror films. "The Evil Within" tried to break the mold, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, found little success. The film grossed $9.5 million over the weekend.
"Transformers: Age of Extinction" did well enough, but even with the long weekend couldn't help the fourth film in the franchise from grossing less than the last two films in the same time period, suffering a massive 64 percent revenue drop from its opening weekend the week prior.
A weak Fourth of July points towards a weak total summer box office haul, but there are still a number of heavy hitters that have yet to land in theaters. Whether or not films like Marvel's summer tentpole "Guardians of the Galaxy" and the Michael Bay produced "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" will be able to turn the summer around remains to be seen.
