Without a major franchise movie release for the Memorial Day weekend, box office receipts were disappointing for the holiday weekend. But there are several franchise releases scheduled for the summer that are expected to push the season’s total take to a record $5 billion.

The summer season runs from May 1 through the Labor Day weekend, and one reason for the record-setting total is that May 1 fell on a Friday this year, adding a full week to the length of the summer season.

Another reason for optimism was the success of Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” from Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), which had the second-biggest opening weekend ever. The second film in the Avengers franchise had grossed $383.2 million through May 21.

The next big franchise release is scheduled for June 12, when “Jurassic World,” the fourth film in the Jurassic Park series, hits the screen. Domestic box office receipts total $767.3 million for the three films released thus far by Universal Studios, now a part of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA). Worldwide ticket sales total $1.97 billion for the three films. The first film, “Jurassic Park,” remains the top-grossing film of the three. (Note that Comcast and Disney were both on our list of 10 Stocks to Own for the Next Decade.)

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The fifth film in the Terminator franchise is due out on July 1 (a Wednesday) from Paramount Studios and Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB). “Terminator: Genisys” stars former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The first movie in the series was released in 1984 and the second, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” rang up the highest grosses, with $208.84 million domestically and $519.8 million worldwide. The franchise total for domestic ticket sales is $518.91 million and $1.4 billion worldwide.

The third summer movie expected to post big numbers is “Minions,” the third installment of the Despicable Me franchise. The animated film from Universal opens on July 10. Domestic ticket sales for the first two movies total $691.58 million and worldwide sales total $1.51 billion.

July 17 brings us “Ant-Man,” the 12th film in what Disney calls the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which currently includes 11 films dating back to “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” in 2008. “Marvel’s The Avengers” is the top-grossing film in the series, with $623.36 million in U.S. ticket sales and $1.52 billion in worldwide sales. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the powerhouse among movies based on comic-book superheroes.

The fifth “Mission Impossible” film starring Tom Cruise is due on July 31 from Paramount. The series has generated domestic sales of $739.8 million and $2.1 billion worldwide.

These are just a handful of movies due out this summer. There are comedies, dramas and horror films aplenty as well. But the franchise films with a solid history of big-ticket sales are what the studios are pinning their hopes on for this summer.

And with good reason. The blockbuster has long been a Hollywood staple and the franchise movies are the tentpoles on which the studios rely.

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Not everyone believes the blockbuster story though. An analyst from Cowen told The New York Post, “We remain concerned about studio clustering in the big-budget franchise corner of the film space, particularly given our belief that overall box office is in secular decline.”

That means that in the long run the steam will run out of these franchise blockbusters as ticket buyers find other ways to spend their time and money. That day does not appear to be just around the corner however.

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