Summer 2016 has been another great one at the cinema with a whole host of terrific films hitting the big screen and enjoying huge box office success.
Finding Dory
Sadly, the summer blockbuster season is drawing to a close and we take a look at some of the highest-grossing films of the last couple of months.
- Finding Dory - $945.2 million
Finding Dory was one of the most anticipated films of the summer as it marked the return of Pixar. It was back in 2003 when Finding Nemo hit the big screen and we were taken on another underwater adventure with some of our favourite characters.
The movie saw Andrew Stanton, who brought us Finding Nemo, back in the director's chair - he had also teamed up with Victoria Strouse to pen the film's screenplay.
Disney Pixar's Finding Dory reunites everyone's favourite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale?
Ellen DeGeneres is back as Dory while Albert Brooks also returns to voice the character of Marlin. They are joined on the cast list by Hayden Rolence, Ed O'Neill, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Idris Elba, and Dominic West.
Finding Dory is a movie that is packed with as much heart and charm as the original and really is a wonderful watch - Pixar really has done it again. While it doesn't quite hit the dizzy heights of its predecessor, it does get pretty close.
Currently, Finding Dory is the fourth highest-grossing film of the year behind Captain America: Civil War, Zootropolis, and The Jungle Book - all four are Disney movies in what is turning out to be a great year for the studio.
- The Secret Life of Pets - $767.1 million
The Secret Life of Pets is another animated film that has been winning over audiences and raking in the cash at the box office over the summer.
The Secret Life of Pets is the latest offering from the studio that brought us Despicable Me and is a movie that has topped the box office in both the U.S. and the UK.
The movie marked the return of Chris Renaud to the director's chair in what is his first feature film since Despicable Me 2 in 2013. Renaud teamed up with Yarrow Cheney, who made his feature film directorial debut with the film.
For their fifth fully-animated feature film collaboration, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures present The Secret Life of Pets, a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day.
Louis C.K. is set to bring the central character of Max to life and is joined on the cast list by Ellie Kemper, Jenny Slate, Kevin Hart, Lake Bell, Albert Brooks, Steve Coogan, and Eric Stonestreet.
The movie really has been a huge box office smash and has grossed over $767 million this summer - it is currently the highest-grossing none-Disney animated film of the year.
- Suicide Squad - $678.9 million
Of course, no summer would be complete without a comic book film to kick back and enjoy... and Suicide Squad is the movie that just about everyone is talking about.
Suicide Squad is a movie that has been panned by the critics but loved by fans; topping the box office and grossing over $678 million worldwide so far.
The movie sees David Ayer in the director's chair for his first film since Fury - it is also the first time that the filmmaker has tackled a comic book project.
Suicide Squad boasts one of the most impressive ensemble cast lists of the year as Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, and Cara Delevingne are just some of the names that are on board.
It feels good to be bad... Assemble a team of the world's most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government's disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren't picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it's every man for himself?
The movie has topped the box office in the U.S. and the UK and continues to do well worldwide. We are going to have to wait and see if it gets close to the $872 million total set by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earlier this year.
- X-Men: Apocalypse - $544.6 million
X-Men: Apocalypse was released in the middle of May and just scrapes into our round-up of successful summer movies.
The movie came two years after the critical and commercial success of X-Men: Days of Future Past and saw Bryan Singer back in the director's chair for the fourth X-Men movie of his career.
He had already brought us X-Men, X2, and X-Men: Days of Future Past and it was great to see him back.
James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult reprised their roles as Xavier, Magneto, Mystique, and Beast. Hugh Jackman, Evan Peters, and Rose Byrne are some of the other familiar faces.
There were some big new additions to the cast list as Oscar Isaac, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Hardy, and Alexandra Shipp were introduced as Apocalypse, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Angel, and Storm.
Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshipped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel's X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.
X-Men: Apocalypse was another hit for the X-Men franchise as the movie went on to gross over $544 million at the global box office - becoming a number one hit in both the U.S. and the UK.
There has been a lot of talk about expanding the X-Men universe further as well as talk of the X-Men appearing in the MCU, we are going to have to wait and see what the future holds for this franchise and these great characters.
- Jason Bourne - $380.5 million
Jason Bourne was one of the summer movies that I was looking forward to the most as I am such a fan of the franchise and Matt Damon in this role.
This is the fourth Bourne film to star Damon as he reprised the title role for the first time since The Bourne Ultimatum back in 2007. I am delighted to see him back and working with director Paul Greengrass again.
Jason Bourne was the fourth collaboration between Damon and Greengrass and the first time that we had seen the filmmaker in the director's chair since Captain Phillips. Greengrass has also teamed up with Christopher Rouse to pen the film's screenplay.
Damon was not the only familiar face on the Jason Bourne cast list, as Julia Stiles also reprised her role as Nicky Parsons - a character that has been with the franchise since the very beginning.
But there were some big new additions to the cast list as Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, and Riz Ahmed are all on board.
The CIA's most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to uncover more explosive truths about his past.
Jason Bourne has received mixed reviews upon release, but it has still been a box office hit; grossing $347 million worldwide. The Bourne Ultimatum is the most successful film in the series taking $442.8 million.
We will have to wait and see if Damon returns to this role for a fifth time. There has been a lot of talk about Damon teaming up with The Bourne Legacy star, Jeremy Renner. It remains to be seen if this will ever happen.
- The Legend of Tarzan - $356.4 million
David Yates is set to direct two movies this year and The Legend of Tarzan hit the big screen this summer - the second film will be Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in the autumn.
We have seen many Tarzan movies over the years and The Legend of Tarzan is, once again, based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Alexander Skarsgård is the latest actor to take on this role as he starred alongside Christoph Waltz, Margot Robbie, and Samuel L. Jackson.
It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgård) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side.
Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.
Sadly, The Legend of Tarzan is a movie that has struggled with the critics but it has enjoyed box office success. So far, the film has grossed $354.6 million - easily making back its $180 million budget.
- The Conjuring 2 - $319.5 million
We have been treated to a whole host of horror films so far this year, and The Conjuring 2 has been one of the most successful.
The Conjuring 2 came three years after the success of the first and saw James Wan back in the director's chair. I was such a huge fan of the original film and it is always great to see Wan return to the horror genre.
The movie saw Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise the role of paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren, who travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits.
It was great to see Farmiga and Wilson back in the central roles and they are joined by some new faces as Madison Wolfe, Francs O'Connor, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Franka Potente, and Lauren Esposito are also on board.
The Conjuring 2 was another critical and commercial hit for Wan as the movie has grossed $319.5 million - surpassing the $318 million grossed by The Conjuring back in 2014.
It has been announced a spin-off called The Nun will go ahead and Wan is on board to produce.
