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Star Wars Launches Summer Blockbuster Era, Now 40% Box Office

5/24/2026

Summary

Story summary

Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977, turning Memorial Day into a movie weekend.
After Disney’s 2018 *Solo* bombed, the studio shifted to live-action remakes and launched *The Mandalorian* featuring Grogu.
Fox’s releases of *Alien* (1979) and *The Empire Strikes Back* (1980) expanded theater counts to over 1,300 screens.
Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian said Spielberg and Lucas created an 18-week summer season that now accounts for about 40 % of domestic box-office.

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Story summary

Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977, turning Memorial Day into a movie weekend.
After Disney’s 2018 *Solo* bombed, the studio shifted to live-action remakes and launched *The Mandalorian* featuring Grogu.
Fox’s releases of *Alien* (1979) and *The Empire Strikes Back* (1980) expanded theater counts to over 1,300 screens.
Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian said Spielberg and Lucas created an 18-week summer season that now accounts for about 40 % of domestic box-office.