With this weekend's release of Deep Impact, the Summer 1998 box office season gets under way with a bang. Summer moviegoers will be bombarded by the usual assortment of special effects-filled action fare, star-driven comedies, TV-inspired films, and a small handful of event pictures. But surprisingly enough, this summer's movie slate is virtually sequel-free. With the current release schedule, the season resembles the front-loaded summer of 1996 when early hits like Twister ($241.7M domestic gross), Mission: Impossible ($180.9M), and Independence Day ($306.1M) dominated the box office, as opposed to the back-loaded summer of last year when June underperformed but July and August exploded with Men in Black ($250.2M) and Air Force One ($172.6M).

Below are projected grosses for many of the summer's wide releases based on studio release dates as of May 8. Of course, projections will change throughout the summer months due to changing market conditions. Keep reading the Weekend Box Office column for the most current weekly projections. Box Office Guru, as always, will provide in-depth and up-to-date analysis of the summer box office throughout the coming months so be sure to check in for the latest figures. Weekend projections are published on Thursdays, early estimates are posted late Saturdays, studio estimates on Sundays, and actuals on late Mondays. And now for the Summer that could be...

Written by Gitesh Pandya