Looking back at the predictions for June, some were very close to their actual grosses (Max, Insidious: Chapter 3) while others were completely off (Ted 2). The built-in audience for Entourage was overestimated (the film was also not helped by awful reviews), and the nostalgia and love for Jurassic Park was severely underestimated (to be fair, few predicted that third sequel in the dinosaur series would break nearly every opening weekend record).

Jurassic World and Inside Out helped to reinvigorate the box office in a big way this June. In the past, July has been one of the biggest months of the year box office wise. While this upcoming month will likely eclipse last year’s extremely low July gross of $966 million, especially given that this year said month has five weekends, it seems unlikely to even come close to the all-time July record without any guaranteed heavy hitters such as past July releases Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, The Dark Knight, or Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Magic Mike XXL (July 1st - Warner Bros.)

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Image via Warner Bros.

Magic Mike XXL arrives almost exactly three years after Magic Mike became a surprise hit with an opening of $39.1 million. The film had decent legs and ended its run with $113.7 million. The sequel brings back most of the principal cast, including Magic Mike himself (Channing Tatum). While this year's Jupiter Ascending was a notorious bomb, Tatum's brand appears to still be in great stead thanks to last year's 22 Jump Street and Foxcatcher. The trailers have been well received and seem to be pushing all the right buttons that made the original a hit.

While Magic Mike XXL will surely do fine business, it would be unrealistic to expect it to reach the heights of its predecessor. The film appeals primarily to young females, which means it will likely open big and drop off quickly, especially given that it opens over 4th of July weekend, typically one of the busiest of the year.

  • Opening Weekend: $50 million (5-day weekend)
  • Projected Gross Range: $75 million - $140 million
  • Estimated Final Gross: $105 million

Terminator Genisys (July 1st - Paramount)

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Image via Paramount

July is filled with question marks, but Terminator Genisys just may be the biggest wild card of them all. The Terminator brand used to be one of the strongest in the industry, but it has been dragged through the mud by the two most recent entries, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation, to such an extent that it remains to be seen whether it has a shot at being revived. This entry does bring Arnold Schwarzenegger back to the franchise that made him famous, but his return to film after serving as governor has featured three major flops in a row (The Last Stand, Escape Plan, and Sabotage), which casts doubt over whether his presence will actually help Genisys.

It also doesn't help that the marketing hasn't properly conveyed what this movie is about. There are elements of a remake, sequel, and reboot here, and then there are plot points that include Arnold Schwarzenegger fighting himself as well as John Connor becoming the villain. These are interesting new elements, but they feel closer to a convoluted mess than a fresh and thought provoking take on the franchise.

On the plus side, the trailers seem to invoke memories of the first two Terminator films instead of the two most recent installments. It's also a big-budget action movie being released over July 4th weekend with a recognizable brand, and Emilia Clarke may help bring in some of the Game of Thrones crowd. It faces no real competition until Ant-Man arrives two weeks later, and Paramount has definitely worked hard to raise awareness for the film. Still, it's hard to imagine this getting much past Terminator Salvation's final gross in a significant way.

  • Opening Weekend: $55 million (5-day weekend)
  • Projected Gross Range: $90 million - $175 million
  • Final Gross Estimate: $135 million

The Gallows (July 10th - Warner Bros.)

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Image via Warner Bros.

The Gallows marks the latest effort to cash in on the found footage horror craze. While the found footage horror genre saw resurgence in the late 2000s and has had its share of hits (Paranormal Activity, The Devil Inside), it has died off considerably in the last two years. Last year's Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones was the lowest grossing of the series and As Above/So Below flopped last summer with $21.3 million.

The Gallows doesn't seem to differentiate itself in any major ways, aside from taking place in a school and hanging teenagers from a noose. The trailers have shown taped audience reactions while watching the movie, which has proven to be an effective strategy in the past, and have even gone so far as to compare the film's villain to horror icons such as Freddy and Jason. Other good news for Warner Bros. is that they don't face any horror competition for four weeks, unless Lionsgate decides to give The Vatican Tapes a wide release, which seems unlikely. Look for this to do roughly The Marked Ones numbers.

  • Opening Weekend: $14 million
  • Projected Gross Ranged: $20 million - $50 million
  • Final Gross Estimate: $35 million

Minions (July 10th - Universal)

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Image via Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment

Despicable Me became a surprise hit for Universal in 2010, grossing $251.5 million on a modest $61 million budget. Despicable Me 2 followed in 2013 and grossed a huge $368 million, along with an additional $602.7 million overseas. Two years later, Minions arrives, featuring the titular characters in their own film.

Spinoffs tend to gross significantly less than the standard entries in a franchise (Puss in Boots and Penguins of Madagascar both grossed a fraction of the previous entries in their respective franchises), but the minions are unquestionably the most popular characters in the Despicable Me franchise. This one may not quite reach the heights of Despicable Me 2, but given the real lack of family competition in July, Minions should have no trouble turning a huge profit for Universal.

  • Opening Weekend: $90 million
  • Projected Gross Range: $250 million - $400 million
  • Final Gross Estimate: $310 million

Self/Less (July 10th - Focus Features)

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Image via Focus Features

Self/Less is the first science fiction thriller in theaters since Ex Machina became a surprise hit at the box office (Terminator falls into the action category). In spite of this, the prospects for Self/Less do not look so bright.

While Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley are both well-liked and recognizable actors, neither is proven box office draws. Original sci-fi thrillers tend to struggle at the box office unless they have either a huge star (Minority Report) or eye-catching visuals (District 9). Self/Less doesn't appear to have either of these working for it, and given that it's opening the week after Terminator and a week before Ant-Man, this one is not likely to make much of a dent at the box office.

  • Opening Weekend: $8 million
  • Projected Gross Range: $14 million - $40 million
  • Final Gross Estimate: $22 million

Trainwreck (July 17th - Universal)

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Image via Universal Pictures

Trainwreck marks the big screen debut of star Amy Schumer, who has gained a following due to her popular sketch comedy show Inside Amy Schumer, now in its third season. The film received positive buzz from its premiere at SXSW, has a great trailer, and a strong supporting cast that includes a comedic turn from NBA star LeBron James.

Trainwreck marks the first film directed by comedy heavyweight Judd Apatow that was not also written by him (Schumer penned the screenplay). Fortunately for Apatow, the plot and tone of Trainwreck look more in line with his more successful directorial efforts (The 40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) as opposed to his two most recent and less popular semi-autobiographical films, Funny People and This Is 40. Look for this to land somewhere in the middle of Apatow’s work, if not a bit higher.

  • Opening Weekend: $28 million
  • Projected Gross Range: $50 million - $125 million
  • Estimated Final Gross: $85 million

Ant-Man (July 17th - Disney)

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Image via Marvel Studios

Development of Ant-Man as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe dates all the way back to 2006, when Marvel President Kevin Feige announced Edgar Wright as the film's director. Wright developed the script until he abruptly left the project in May of last year, just fourteen months before the film’s release date. While some die hard fans of Wright may be disappointed, very rarely does a change in a film's director cause a significant loss of interest, especially when the studio making that movie is Marvel, arguably the most popular brand in the film industry today.

With the release date fast approaching, Marvel and Disney have been pushing all of their marketing muscle into the film, and the trailers so far have shown lots of promise and seem to be striking the right chord between looking different enough from other Marvel films yet similar enough to fit into the universe. Paul Rudd's presence has also generated lots of interest, and the actor has been working hard to promote the film. While it would be unrealistic for the stars to align in the same way they did for last year's Guardians of the Galaxy, this will likely perform in line with last July’s biggest hit, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

  • Opening Weekend: $70 million
  • Projected Gross Range: $150 million - $300 million
  • Final Gross Estimate: $200 million

Pixels (July 24th - Sony)

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Image via Sony Pictures

Along with Terminator, Pixels is one of the tougher July releases to predict. It is a big-budget action comedy starring Adam Sandler, but this likely would have meant more if the film had been released a decade ago. Outside of voice acting and the Grown Ups franchise, Sandler’s last three films have underperformed, including one major bomb (That's My Boy). However, supporting cast members Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, and Josh Gad have all seen their appeal rise due to their involvement in True Detective, Game of Thrones, and The Wedding Ringer, respectively.

The trailers have very clearly laid out the premise of the film and have successfully been highlighting the nostalgia factor by featuring Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and other iconic characters from the early days of video games. 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph also proved that people are interested in watching their favorite video game characters being incorporated into films. In spite of the PG-13 rating, the film appears to be largely aimed at family audiences. This should work to its benefit because it does not face competition for said audiences until early August. Given the amount of promotion Sony has been doing for the film, it seems like a lock for at least a decent opening weekend, and may end up having strong legs if word-of-mouth is strong (admittedly a little hard to imagine).

  • Opening Weekend: $38 million
  • Projected Gross Range: $60 million - $150 million
  • Estimated Final Gross: $90 million

Southpaw (July 24th - The Weinstein Company)

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Image via The Weinstein Company

Last year, Jake Gyllenhaal underwent a radical physical transformation and lost 20lbs and turned in a remarkable performance in Nightcrawler (one of the biggest Oscar snubs in recent memory). This year, he appears to be going the opposite route, and has packed on muscle for a truly jaw-dropping (and somewhat terrifying) image of a boxer trying to make his way back to the top in Southpaw.

Early reviews for the film are solid, though they do point out that the movie is not as good as Gyllenhaal's performance. Southpaw should also serve as counter-programming this summer as one of the few gritty dramas being aimed exclusively at adults. One thing working against Southpaw, however, is the limitation of its genre. Outside of the Rocky films and a few other exceptions (The Fighter, Million Dollar Baby), boxing dramas tend to struggle to find a sizable audience. The closest comparisons for Southpaw may be Cinderella Man, The Hurricane, and Ali. Jake Gyllenhaal doesn't have quite the drawing power of Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, or Will Smith, however, so expect this to end up a bit lower than those films.

  • Opening Weekend: $15 million
  • Projected Gross Range: $30 million - $80 million
  • Estimated Final Gross: $45 million

Paper Towns (July 24th - 20th Century Fox)

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Last year, The Fault In Our Stars, based on the popular John Green novel, took the box office by surprise and opened with a huge $48.0 million on its way to a final gross of $124.8 million. As a surprise to no one, Paper Towns, also a John Green novel and already in development, was put on the fast track for a summer 2015 release.

Prior to the release of The Fault In Our Stars, 10.7 million copies of the novel had been sold and the book was met with near universal acclaim. Paper Towns, on the other hand, has sold far fewer copies and has received largely mixed reviews. Another major distinction between the two properties is Fault’s star, Shailene Woodley. Three months prior to the film’s release, Woodley became known worldwide for her role in Lionsgate’s tent pole Divergent, also based on a young adult novel. Paper Towns has a likeable cast but lacks someone with Woodley’s popularity.

Despite these disadvantages, Fox will undoubtedly target John Green’s fans for Paper Towns using the same means they successfully implemented with The Fault in Our Stars, and the film will also benefit from being, oddly, one of the few romance films this summer (Aloha having failed to make a dent). Given the film’s low budget, this should turn out a nice profit for Fox.

  • Opening Weekend: $32 million
  • Projected Gross Range: $60 million - $125 million
  • Estimated Final Gross: $80 million

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (July 31st - Paramount)

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Image via Paramount

After Ghost Protocol exceeded expectations in terms of both quality and box office gross, Rogue Nation arrives nearly four years later. Rogue Nation appears to have all of the necessary blockbuster sequel ingredients: return of the principle cast (including and especially Tom Cruise), raises the stakes (a mysterious group of villains hunting down the IMF), and features a compelling visual hook (Cruise hanging off the side of an airplane as it takes off).

Cruise's airplane stunt unsurprisingly was performed by the actor himself, which has been heavily covered by the media. Paramount originally had Rogue Nation slated for a Christmas Day release, but they moved it up 5 months to a prime summer slot, hypothetically because they saw how good the final result is, or to avoid competition from Star Wars (hopefully the former). While Fantastic Four opening one week after may hurt Rogue Nation’s chances at achieving new heights for the franchise, this should pull in roughly Ghost Protocol numbers.

  • Opening Weekend: $80 million
  • Projected Gross Range: $150 million - $250 million
  • Estimated Final Gross: $210 million

Vacation (July 31st - Warner Bros.)

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Image via New Line Cinema

The original National Lampoon's Vacation was released in 1983 and was followed by three sequels. The most recent sequel, Vegas Vacation, was released in 1997 to largely negative reactions, and the franchise hit a dead end.

Now, almost two decades later, the reboot picks up with an adult Rusty Griswold taking his family across the country on an ill-fated vacation to Walley World. The trailer does a good job of paying homage to the first (and still very popular) film, in particular by featuring original cast members Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo, while also showing what's new about the reboot. Ed Helms is by no means a movie star, but his presence will definitely help draw in crowds thanks to his comedy hot streak with We're The Millers, The Office, and The Hangover trilogy. The supporting cast is also strong, and Chris Hemsworth has generated lots of interest in his first full-on comedic role.

Speaking of We're The Millers, both that film and Vacation have the marketing power of New Line and Warner Bros., a strong and likeable cast, and a late summer release date. Look for this to do similar numbers.

  • Opening Weekend: $35 million (5-day weekend)
  • Projected Gross Range: $75 million - $180 million
  • Estimated Final Gross: $130 million

Studio Prediction for July

This month will likely be one of the quieter Julys we've seen, but it will likely end in a photo finish between Paramount and Universal for the winner. Barring an over-performance by Terminator, the edge will go to Universal for the second month in a row, due to the guaranteed hit Minions.