Biggest Summer Movie Stars Since 1980

Adjusted for inflation, the three Lethal Weapon movies that were released during the summer — all but the original — grossed about $900 million at the domestic box office. The 2002 alien film “Signs,” which stars Gibson, grossed $353 million in 2019 dollars.

The career of Jeff Goldblum has benefited greatly from his involvement in the Jurassic Park franchise. The top-grossing film of his career is “Jurassic Park” (1993), with “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997) and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” (2018) not far behind. Goldblum also helped entertain scores of summer moviegoers in 1996 with his part in “Independence Day.”

“Bruce Almighty” (2003) — in which Steve Carell starred alongside Jim Carrey — grossed more than $362 million, when adjusted for inflation. However the actor’s greatest successes at the summer box office have been with animated films — specifically “Despicable Me 2” (2013) and “Minions” (2015), which combined grossed nearly $800 million, adjusted for inflation. “Despicable Me” (2010) and “Despicable Me 3” (2017) were also released during the summer months and featured Carell voicing the character Gru.

One of Tommy Lee Jones’ earliest starring roles came in 1980 with the Loretta Lynn biopic “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” However, that movie was released in March, and the actor wouldn’t star in a major summer blockbuster until “The Fugitive” in 1993. Other summer hits include “Men in Black” (1997) and “Batman Forever” (1995), in which he played Harvey Dent.

Michael Caine’s total summer box office gross has been bolstered greatly by his work in the Dark Knight Trilogy, which consists of three blockbusters all released in the summer. Caine also played the role of Miles in Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” (2010) and Nigel Powers in the comedy “Austin Powers in Goldmember” (2002).

When adjusted for inflation, “Spider-Man” (2002), in which Willem Dafoe played Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, is the actor’s top-grossing summer flick. Dafoe scored another hit with last year’s superhero movie “Aquaman.”

Comedic actor Mike Myers has had great success starring in two franchises with general summer releases: Shrek and Austin Powers. He also appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” which was released in August 2009.

Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård has landed prominent roles in the Avengers and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, both of which often have had films released during the summer. While it did not gross as much as the films in those series, the ABBA-based musical “Mamma Mia!” from 2008 also featured Skarsgård.

Cameron Diaz is the only woman to rank among the biggest summer movie stars since 1980. In addition to her work in the popular Shrek series, voicing Princess Fiona, Diaz appeared in the 1998 summer comedy “There’s Something About Mary,” which grossed $337 million when adjusted for inflation. She also starred in 1994’s “The Mask,” which grossed $258 million.

John Favreau has played the role of Happy Hogan in the Iron Man films and also appeared in the summertime releases “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017) and “Spider-Man: Far from Home” (2019). Favreau also voiced Rio Durant in “Solo: A Star Wars Story” last year.

Morgan Freeman’s work as Lucius Fox in the Dark Knight Trilogy is among his most successful at the box office. However, Freeman was also entertaining audiences during the summer going back to “Bruce Almighty” (2003) and “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” (1991).

When adjusted for inflation, Michael Keaton’s top-grossing movie is still the Tim Burton-directed “Batman” from 1989. He’s appeared in numerous other summer blockbusters, including “Toy Story 3” (2010), “Minions” (2015), and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017).

Will Smith dominated theaters two summers in a row with sci-fi blockbusters “Independence Day” (1996) and “Men in Black” (1997). Smith also had a major role in 2016’s “Suicide Squad” and is in this summer’s successful remake of “Aladdin,” in which he plays the Genie.

Gary Oldman is another actor who has entertained movie fans with his work in the Dark Knight Trilogy. Oldman also played Sirius Black in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (2007) and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004), each of which grossed more than $350 million when adjusted for inflation.

Robert Downey Jr. has been hugely successful in the role of Tony Stark (Iron Man) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While not all of these movies have been released in the summer — some have come out in the spring — the majority, including 2012’s “The Avengers,” have.

Fifty-seven year old Tom Cruise has been starring in summer blockbusters since the 1980s. When adjusted for inflation, his two top-grossing films are “Top Gun” (1986) and “Rain Man” (1988). Cruise has also starred in six Mission: Impossible movies, all but one of which were released in the summer season.

Tom Hanks is one of America’s most beloved actors, as reflected by the success of his movies at the domestic box office. “Forrest Gump,” released in July 1994, was the top-grossing movie of that year. Hanks’ “Saving Private Ryan,” also released during the month of July, was similarly the top-grossing film of 1998.

The comedian turned actor was among the biggest stars of the 1980s, appearing in summer blockbuster films “Beverly Hills Cop II” (1987) and “Coming to America” (1988). Murphy had success in the 1990s with two cinematic reboots: “The Nutty Professor” (1996) and “Dr. Dolittle” (1998).

Although released prior to 1980, Harrison Ford’s first blockbuster role was Han Solo in 1977’s “Star Wars.” He would resurrect this part three years later for “The Empire Strikes Back.” Ford was also hugely successful playing Indiana Jones in the franchise’s four films, all of which were summer releases.

Samuel L. Jackson is an extremely prolific actor, with 186 acting credits listed on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). He’s appeared in a big-budget film nearly every year since the late 1980s, in such franchises as Jurassic Park, Die Hard, and Star Wars.