2015 has been a great year for film so far and we have seen a whole host of great movies hit the big screen this summer and enjoy HUGE success at the global box office.
Which movies have you been watching and enjoying this summer? There was a lot of love here at FemaleFirst for Inside Out, but there have been a whole host of films that we have loved during the summer season.
We take a look back at how the movies that have performed at the box office to crown the highest grossing summer movies of 2015.
- Jurassic World - $1.623 billion
It was back in June when Jurassic World hit the big screen and it has gone on to not only be the highest grossing film of the summer season, but also the highest grossing movie of 2015 so far.
Jurassic World is the fourth film in the popular Jurassic Park franchise and the first since Jurassic World III back in 2001. Colin Trevorrow was in the director's chair this time around for what was the biggest movie of his filmmaker career to date.
While Jurassic World was expected to perform well at the box office, it really did outperform all expectations as it blasted through the $1 billion barrier in just thirteen days - surpassing the record of seventeen days that has been set by Fast & Furious 7 earlier this year.
The film has grossed $1.623 billion at the box office and has gone on to become the third highest grossing film of all time, behind Avatar and Titanic but ahead of the likes of Avengers Assemble and Fast & Furious 7.
Jurassic World was the third feature film to break $1 billion this year and joined Fast & Furious 7 and Avengers: Age of Ultron in the billion dollar club. There are some terrific movies on the horizon between now and the end of the year but I think it is going to be a tough ask for any film to topple Jurassic World as the highest grossing film of 2015.
- Minions - $989.4 million
It was back in 2010 when we were introduced to the Minions for the first time in animation smash hit Despicable Me before they returned in the sequel three years later. This summer we saw the popular characters back in their first solo film.
Minions saw Pierre Coffin - who directed the two Despicable Me movies - at the helm as he teamed up with Kyle Balda for the first time. The movies is set years before they meet Gru when they come face to face with super-villain Scarlett Overkill.
Minions may not have been a huge hit with the critics, but it has proved to be a massive box office smash and has, so far, taken $989.4 million worldwide. Minions has proved to be another hit for Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment and is the highest grossing animation film of the year so far.
The Despicable Me movies were hugely successful upon release but I never expected Minions to perform as well this summer as it has. Perhaps we will be seeing a sequel sooner than you think.
- Inside Out - $689.9 million
No movie year is complete without a Pixar film hitting the big screen... however, we have not seen a Pixar film since Monsters University back in the summer of 2013.
It is fair to say that the wait has been worth it as Inside Out has been the best animation film to be released so far this year. Not only has Inside Out been a box office smash, but it has also had just about all of the critics raving.
Inside Out is the second highest grossing animation film of 2015 - second only to Minions - and has taken $689.9 million at the global box office already this summer.
Directed by Pete Docter, the movie is set inside the mind of a young girl where her five emotions - Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) - try to steer her through her life.
All summer Inside Out has been surrounded in Oscar whispers and is being tipped as the favourite to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar at the beginning of next year. It really is going to take a hell of a film to snatch this Oscar away from Inside Out - which would become the latest Pixar film to taste Oscar glory.
- San Andreas - $468.7 million
San Andreas was one of the earliest of the summer movies as it hit the big screen at the end of May. It has been another great year for Dwayne Johnson - he has already enjoyed billion dollar success with Fast & Furious 7 - and San Andreas was another hit for the actor.
San Andreas marked the return of Brad Peyton to the director's chair for the first time since Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. San Andreas also marked the second film collaboration between the filmmaker and Johnson.
Johnson takes on the role of a rescue-chopper pilot, who makes a dangerous journey across California to save his daughter after a massive earthquake devastates the state.
San Andreas is one of the biggest disaster movies to be released this year and has gone on to gross $468.7 million at the global box office.
Over the last couple of year Johnson has proved that he is a great box office draw and he continues to show that he is a huge hit with film-going audiences. Johnson is set to reunite with Peyton in Rampage, which is based on the classic 1980s video game, and due to be released in 2017.
- Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - $438.6 million
Tom Cruise is one of the biggest film stars and he returned to the role of Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation at the end of July. Rogue Nation is the fifth film in the franchise and the first film since Ghost Protocol back in 2011.
It was back in 1996 when we were introduced to the role of Hunt for the first time - nearly twenty years on, Rogue Nation is the biggest film in the franchise to date with some new hair-raising stunts.
Rogue Nation sees Cruise reunite with director Christopher McQuarrie - they worked together on Jack Reacher - while Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Alec Baldwin were also on the cast list.
Rogue Nation has been another huge blockbuster hit this summer and has, so far, grossed over $438.6 million worldwide. However, I did expect to see this film perform a little better at the box office then it actually has. The film has only been on release four weeks but there is already talk of a sixth film in the pipeline.
- Ant-Man - $361 million
Ant-Man is the second of two Marvel movies to be released this year and came hot off the heels of the billion dollar success of Avengers: Age of Ultron. The movie brought Phase Two of Marvel films to a close as we were introduced to this character for the first time.
Paul Rudd took on the title role in the film, while Peyton Reed directed his first Marvel movie - taking over from Edgar Wright, who left the project due to creative differences.
Another terrific cast has been assembled for the film, as Rudd was joined by Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, and Michael Pena were also on board. We also see Anthony Mackie reprise the role of Falcon in the movie.
So far, Ant-Man has grossed $361 million at the global box office this summer. Of course, this is not the most successful Marvel film of recent years and we are going to have to wait and see if we do get a sequel. We are going to see Rudd reprise the role of Scott Lang next year in Captain America: Civil War.
