On June 21, it seemed that all eyes were on Minority Report. Turns out that there were more eyes that turned out for the animated Disney film, Lilo & Stitch, on that first day of both movies' premier. L&S made $12.3 million in its first day while Minority Report made $11.6 million. Since then it has been a stiff competition between the two films on weekends, but L&S has pulled ahead for overall box office gross thanks to better sales on weekdays. By the end of June, L&S had grossed $77 million while Minority Report had $73 million (since then both movies have crossed the $100 million mark).

A surprising hit from June was the political thriller, The Bourne Identity. The movie started with a very high $27 million on opening weekend and by the end of June it had grossed $72 million, well on its way to $100 million.

Adam Sandler returned with another hit after failing miserably with Little Nicky. Mr. Deeds opened with an incredible $37 million. That was the total at the end of June for the comedy that looks to make at least $120 million.

One other minor hit for the month was The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. The movie made $55 million by the end of June.

Of course June was like all previous months in that it had some major disappointments. The $100 million+ budgeted Windtalkers finished June with $33 million, ranking 10th in its third weekend. Bad Company didn't have it any better, as the movie made a paltry $28 million.

Analysis

This year is setting a course for breaking last year's record of $8.4 billion. Ticket sales are up roughly 20% thanks in part to early successes this year such as Ice Age, LOTR and A Beautiful Mind, as well as (of course) the 1-2 punch of Spider-Man and Attack of the Clones in early summer. From January to June, films have grossed over $4.6 billion. Now, you might want to just times that total by two to project what the total would be at years' end. Just remember, there most likely will not be another $400 million hit this year. I know, there are the second editions of Harry Potter and LOTR coming out later this year, as well as Austin Powers 3 and Signs, and you have to take into account MIB2 opening in the second half of the year. But there is a chance that none of them will even make $300 million. Sequels most of the time do not do as good as the originals, so while Potter 2 and LOTR 2 will do good, remember that MIB2 is not doing as well as MIB, and AOTC made more than 25% less than Phantom Menace. But I have to say that a new record will most likely be set this year at the domestic box office, and it will most likely make around $9 billion.

Sony Pictures is the biggest winner of all, as thanks to hits like Spider-Man, Panic Room and Black Hawk Down in the first half of the year (and with MIB2 and other future hits like XXX), the company will most likely end up setting the record for most money grossed by a movie company in one year. It was close to $900 million at the end of June and should pass the $1 billion mark soon, in part due to the success of MIB2. Sony holds the record for biggest box office gross for a year (1997 with $1.26 billion).

The Hits (January - June 2002):

1.  Spider-Man (Est. Budget: $130 mil) Total: $395 mil / Finale: $403 mil (+$270 million)

2.  Attack Of The Clones - ($115 million) $286 million / $300 million (+$185 mil)

3.  Ice Age - ($65 million) $175 million total (+$110 million)

4.  Scooby-Doo - ($80 million) $123 million / $155 million (+$75 million)

5.  Lilo & Stitch - ($80 million) $77 million / $145 million(+$65 million)

6.  Minority Report - ($100 million) $73 million / $135 million (+35 million)

7.  The Sum Of All Fears - ($70 million) $105 million / $122 million (+$52 mil)

8.  Mr. Deeds - ($50 million) $37 million / $120 million (+$70 million)

9.  The Bourne Identity ($60 million) $72 million / $120 million (+$60 million)

10. Panic Room - ($50 million) $95 million (+$45 million)

11. The Scorpion King - ($60 million) $90 million (+$30 million)

12. Blade II - ($50 million) $81 million (+$41 million)

13. Snow Dogs - ($30 million) $81 million (+$51 million)

The Misses:

1.  Birthday Girl - (Estimated Budget: ???) Final Total: $4.9 million

2.  Deuces Wild - ($20 million) $6 million (-$14 million)

3.  Impostor - ($50 million) $6.2 million (-$44 million)

4.  Big Trouble - ($45 million) $7 million (-$38 million)

5.  Death To Smoochy - ($45 million) $8 million (-$37 million)

6.  Life Or Something Like It - ($40 million) $14 million (-$26 million)

7.  Kung Pow - ($25 million) $16 million (-9 million)

8.  Rollerball - ($90 million) $18.9 million (-$71 million)

9.  Hart's War - ($80 million) $19 million (-$61 million)

10. Bad Company - ($70 million) $28 million (-$42 million)

11. Murder By Numbers - ($50 million) $31 million (-$19 million)

12. E.T. - (N/A) $35 million

13. Showtime - ($85 million) $37 million (-$48 million)

14. Windtalkers - ($110 million) $33 million - $40 million (-$70 million)

15. Enough - ($40 million) $39 million (-$1 million)

16. Collateral Damage - ($90 million) $40 million (-$50 million)

17. The Time Machine - ($100 million) $56 million (-$44 million)

Note: All budgets are estimates, but they don't include marketing costs. So the movies that made positive amounts actually made less if you take marketing into consideration. And movies that made negative amounts made even less if you count marketing.

Oscar Contenders (January - June 2002):
- Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck in Changing Lanes
- Al Pacino in Insomnia
- Diane Lane in Unfaithful
- Hugh Grant in About A Boy

Note: No real Best Picture contenders in first half of the year other than Attack of the Clones.  Of course this is my opinion only.