Summer of sequels!

The major Hollywood studios are making big bets on some familiar names. With Spidey, Shrek, Jack Sparrow and Harry all on tap, could this be a record-breaking summer at the box office?

Transformers
July 4
Transformers
DreamWorks/Paramount (VIAB)
Will the Transformers movie, as the tag line for the popular toy claims, have more than meets the eye?

There is a lot of buzz about this special-effects laden movie, which will hit theaters during the July 4th weekend, a prime time for moviegoers.

Still, even though many people think the movie looks "cool" and should bring in lots of young males, some analysts are not sure if that will be enough to make the film a truly big hit.

Gray of Box Office Mojo said the movie is "not a slam dunk" and Exhibitor Relations' Bock said that since the movie is not a sequel - unless you want to count the 1986 animated version - he's not sure how it will do against this summer's bumper crop of sequels.

But one thing is certain. This movie is an important one for Viacom, whose Paramount and DreamWorks studios are releasing it. Viacom has had a string of box office hits so far this year, including comedies "Blades of Glory" and "Norbit." But the company does not have many big summer releases other than "Transformers."


Spider-Man 3

Shrek the Third

Pirates of the Caribbean

Knocked Up

Ocean's 13

Fantastic Four

Evan Almighty

Live Free or Die Hard

Ratatouille

Transformers

Harry Potter

Chuck and Larry

The Simpsons

The Bourne Ultimatum

Rush Hour 3
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.