Summer sets box office record
2009 is highest-grossing summer ever
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Through Sunday, summer B.O. revs were $4.17 billion, compared to $4.16 billion for summer 2007, the previous record holder for best summer sesh.
The Labor Day weekend should add another $100 million or more to the total tally, meaning the summer would be up at least 3% in grosses over 2007.
Three tentpoles lead the pack of top domestic performers: Paramount's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" ($399.4 million), Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" ($294.3 million) and Disney/Pixar's "Up" ($289.6 million).
Pics performing significantly better than expected include Warners' comedy "The Hangover," which has run up $270.2 million in domestic ticket sales, by far the best gross for an R-rated comedy. Pic places No. 4 on the top 10 summer chart.
Auds were also in love with Disney's Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy "The Proposal," which earned $160.2 million to become the highest-grossing summer romantic comedy of all time. Film is No. 9 on the summer domestic roster.
Several franchises got an infusion of fresh blood: Paramount's "Star Trek" grossed $256.7 million to come in fifth for the season, while Twentieth Century Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" grossed $179 million to rank No. 7.
Fox also took spots No. 6 and No. 8 with "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" ($193.3 million) and "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" ($176.5 million).
Sony's sequel "Angels and Demons" rounds out the top 10 list at $133.4 million, although Paramount's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" will likely overtake "Angels."
"G.I. Joe's" domestic cume through Sunday was $132.2 million after grossing $7.7 million for the weekend, its fourth sesh.
