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?

The Simpsons Movie
July 27
The Simpsons Movie
20th Century Fox (NWS)
Fans of the long-running Fox sitcom (me included) have been waiting years for this movie to come out.

There obviously is a lot of pent-up demand for the movie and Fox has the benefit of its Sunday night show, which it can use to promote the heck out of the film during May sweeps.

But will "The Simpsons Movie" be a huge blockbuster or just a cult hit for devotees of the show? The movie, despite some hilarious trailers, doesn't seem to be generating as much buzz as some of this year's sequels. D'oh!

Plus, it could face some tough competition from "Transformers" and "Harry Potter."

Still, who cares? If you're a fan of Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, Maggie, Apu, Sideshow Bob, Bumblebee Man, Comic Book Guy, Professor Frink...the list goes on and on...then odds are you won't care what the reviewers say. You'll be at the theater opening night with a box of doughnuts - mmmm, doughnuts - and a can or two of Duff beer.


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
A fun quarter for Hasbro Toymaker cites strong sales from Marvel-licensed toys and Transformers (more)
Aqua Teen movie tries not to 'bomb' Will the movie based on the cult Cartoon Network show be helped or hurt by the publicity fiasco in Boston? (more)
Spidey, an ogre and pirates: Who wins? A big box office battle is brewing with 3 of the most widely awaited movies in years coming out soon. (more)

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.

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.