Ohhhhh what a glorious time, as we have now reached Year XX of the most awesome annual Summer Movie Pool everrrrrrrrrrr! New banner… check. Cleaned up pages… check. New list of summer movies entered… check. Game on!!!
2016 RECAP
2016’s total $4.3B may be a 3% increase from 2015, but it sure didn’t feel like it. While there were some expected monster hits (#1 Finding Dory with $479M – avg placement of 2.4, and #2 Captain America: Civil War with $407M – avg placement of 1.2), and some unexpected hits (#3 The Secret Life of Pets with $354M – avg placement of 6.7, and #4 Suicide Squad with $286M – avg placement of 7.2), there were also complete bombs that ruined people’s summers (#18 Alice Through the Looking Glass with $77M – avg placement of 7.0, #16 TMNT: Out of the Shadows with $82M – avg placement of 7.2, and #12 Independence Day: Resurgence with $102M – avg placement of 5.7).
Hard to say exactly what made this summer feel lackluster, but the fact is we had 14 sequels (last time we had this many was back in 2003) with only 4 exceeding their previous installment. Sure, 7 of them hit $100M, but that doesn’t mean they came anywhere close to their budget. And I can’t recall ever seeing so many dismal Rotten Tomatoes scores among the big-name titles.
In 2016, 8 was the magic number, and we had 6 players hit that mark. But only one could win the tirebreaker, and I am happy to share that in his 15th year of playing Curt Perone has finally won the big one! Curt is now our 14th different person to win in our 19 years, and this is the 7th straight year it’s been someone completely new. Curt wins the 1st Place prize of $400. Edward Ardenall wins the 2nd Place prize of $90 (great work in your very first SMP!). The 3rd Place prize of $30 gets shared by Justin Klein and David Logan. How cute. Just remember, EVERYONE has a shot at winning this thing.
And we can’t forget our beloved Bonehead Award. Not sure if this pick was intended to fail or not, but for the second time we have a tie. Our “winners” Chris Walker and Rana Atieh both selected the $49K- grossing Pele: Birth of a Legend. Now you get to share the $10 prize.
Here are our previous winners:
2016 – Curt Perone
2015 – Mario Nelson
2014 – Mark Adolphus
2013 – Ally Mauro
2012 – Sponge
2011 – Kelly Peterson
2010 – Kurt Weierstall
2009 – Steve Berg
2008 – Justin Klein
2007 – Tim Driscoll
2006 – Steve Berg
2005 – Larry Pennington
2004 – Chic Meyers
2003 – Todd Fiore / Dave Logan / Jaime McGauley (tie)
2002 – Steve Berg
2001 – Steve Berg
2000 – Mike Chapman
1999 – Steve Berg
1998 – Steve Berg
The first Friday of the summer is May 5, and we will need time to confirm entries and track payments. As such, the deadline for submitting your picks will be Thursday, May 4 at 11:59pm PST. At that point the site will lock and no further entries will be accepted. The entire month of April (and partial May) is more than enough time to assemble your picks and submit them.
Have your picks submitted by May 5!!!
On May 5 all picks will be revealed on the Current Standings page. Enjoy… and good luck!!