Traditionally, the Memorial Day weekend tops off box office receipts for May, which has been a good month for movie distributor for years. Over the past 10 years, May has produced an average of $1 billion in U.S. ticket sales. No year has been better than 2009, when the month’s total reached $1.32 billion, driven by “Up” which was released May 29 of that year, according to Box Office Mojo

“Up” grossed $294 million in total U.S. revenue over its time in theaters. On its opening weekend (Memorial Day), the animated film grossed $61.8 million. Rated PG, it was nothing like today’s blockbuster action movies. This weekend’s favorite to rule the box office — “X-Men: Apocalypse” will bring in $80 million, according to forecasts.

May 2009 was kind to the movie industry for other reasons. The month’s release count was only 39 films, against a more typical 50 over the past decade. Last year total movies released for the month hit 65. And in May 2009, yield per theater was $33,800. Last year, the comparable number was $18,200.

So far, through Friday, the May 2016 gross is $544 million. The industry has a long way to go to match any recent May ticket sales, let along 2009

“Up” has a story line as improbable as the X-Men, Captain American and Iron Man movies:

Retired balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, is ready for his last chance at high-flying excitement. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, Carl sets off to the lost world of his childhood dreams. Unbeknownst to Carl, an overeager 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer Russell is on Carl’s front porch! The world’s most unlikely duo meet fantastic friends like Dug, a dog with a special collar that allows him to speak, and Kevin, a rare 13-foot tall flightless bird. Stuck together in the wilds of the jungle, Carl realizes that sometimes life’s biggest adventures aren’t the ones you set out looking for.

So much for any real movie, with real people, in real places making any reasonable money over Memorial Day.

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