Will Any Summer Movie Reach $300 Million At The Box Office?

Vin Diesel and The Rock couldn't do it. A thunder god couldn't do it. Johnny Depp and a bunch of pirates couldn't do it. Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and the guys from Hangover gave it a valiant effort, but even they came up short. Box office hunk Ryan Reynolds and a huge budget, well, we won't even go there. With all the 3D, BigD, and whatever else D that the movie industry has come up with to get more dollars from moviegoers, a trip to the movies for a family of four is starting to stack up to a $60 to $70 outing. With the economy sill not all that great, are more families choosing to wait for the DVD to hit Netflix of Redbox? Then again, maybe it's not the money at all, as almost all the big summer movies have been met with mediocre to downright awful reviews from the critics and viewers. Never before have critics been so unified in their overall hatred of a group of summer movies. Did Hollywood forget that in addition to having a big marketing budget that you also need to make an interesting movie? For whatever reason, no 2011 summer movie has reached the $300 million mark at the U.S. box office. In fact, no movie has even gotten to $250 million, even though it looks like the Hangover II will eventually cross that threshold. Still, the summer is not over yet, so there is still hope. Here is our list of remaining 2011 summer movies that we think have the potential to become runaway summer blockbusters. Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon

Opens over the all important Fourth of July weekend, early buzz has been positive, the trailer is awesome, both previous Transfomers movies crossed $300 million, and everyone loves big robots blowing up stuff. Why it could fall short of $300 million. Tranformers II sucked, critics tend to bash Michael Bay movies, no Megan Fox (or wait should that one be on the positive list?), and moviegoers seem to be tiring of some movie franchises (just look at what happened with Pirates). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

It's the last Harry Potter movie, the trailer is dark and riveting, and it's the big buzz movie among the media. Why it could fall short of $300 million. It's too scary for younger children, the first part didn't cross $300 million, and as previously mentioned moviegoers seem to be tiring of some movie franchises. Captain America: The First Avenger

It's the most well-known superhero movie of the summer, the trailer mixes the humor and action that worked with Iron Man, and it could ride a patriotic wave. Why it could fall short of $300 million. Media critics seem to have formed a new pact to hate all comic book movies, it's being released late in the summer, and all the comic book movies have likely drained the budgets of even the most hardcore comic book fans. Cowboys & Aliens

Doesn't have any superheroes in it so critics might not realize it's a comic book movie and that they are supposed to hate it, Harrison Ford, and directed by Jon Favreau. Why it could fall short of $300 million. Reminds people of the Wild Wild West or Jonah Hex, there aren't exactly a lot of westerns on the top 100 box office list, and the critics might figure out it's a comic book movie. Rise of The Planet Of The Apes

Looks like a potential sleeper hit, the trailers look scary good, and everyone loves apocalyptic monkey stories. Why it could fall short of $300 million. People associate it with the 2001 Planet of The Apes with Mark Wahlberg, it doesn't open until the end of summer, and who cares about apocalyptic monkey stories.