July 4th is a major holiday in America, as it’s the anniversary of the country declaring its Independence and in many ways is the ultimate holiday summer celebration. Friends and families gather together to enjoy cookouts, swim, and watch fireworks. Yet another long-held tradition is going to the movie theater, and Hollywood has capitalized on this. Like the first weekend of May, Memorial Day weekend, and Father’s Day weekend, the Fourth of July is a prime release window for studios looking to make a big splash with exciting new releases.

Being the middle of summer and some of the hottest days on record, the escape to a cool air-conditioned movie theater is already enticing, and when there is a big new blockbuster, people tend to find time to go out and watch. In many ways, a film released on Fourth of July weekend can become so linked to the holiday that, even if the subject matter is not specifically connected to it, the feeling and association become tied together.

This Fourth of July will see the release of Minions: The Rise of Gru, and Universal has delayed the film for two years hoping to cash in on that Fourth of July summer audience. With Top Gun: Maverick breaking the record of almost 15 years held by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End for the biggest Memorial Day weekend, another holiday record could be broken soon.

Unlike Memorial Day weekend, which is a traditional four-day weekend that goes from Friday through Monday, the Fourth of July weekend is more flexible, as the holiday can land on any day of the week, so sometimes a movie can have a three-day gross, others can get up to four or five days. This list will specifically look at how much the movies brought in on the actual holiday itself, and which ones were the biggest films to draw audiences into the movie theaters on the Fourth of July.

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9 Men In Black 2

     Columbia Pictures

Just beating out its predecessor for the number nine spot, Men in Black 2 is one of many Will Smith movies on the list and helped him earn the nickname Mr. July Weekend. Riding high on the success of the first film which also opened on Fourth of July weekend, Men In Black 2 was released in theaters on July 3, 2002. The film grossed $16 million on the holiday, which landed on a Thursday. The film went on to gross $190 million domestically and $441 million worldwide. While not as fondly remembered as its predecessor, the hype for Men in Black 2 was huge at the time and audiences rushed out to the theaters to go see it.

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8 Independence Day

     20th Century Fox

Independence Day just had to be on this list; it’s a movie named after the holiday on it was released. With one of the best marketing campaigns of all time using a Super Bowl spot that grabbed the entire world’s attention, the release of Independence Day was highly anticipated. Originally set to open on July 3, 1996, the hype for the film was so big the studio decided to release it a day early.

After having been out for two days, Independence Day still managed to bring in $17 million on July 4th itself. It was the highest-grossing film of the year with $306 million domestically (adjusted for inflation that is $633 million), and helped set Will Smith up as one of the biggest movie stars on the planet and would make him the king of the July box office for more than a decade. When people think of the 4th of July, they not only think of fireworks, but they think of this movie.

7 Transformers: Dark of the Moon

     Paramount Pictures

Until the release of Bumblebee, the Transformers franchise had a history of releasing in late June and early July. With July 4th landing on a Monday in 2011, Transformers: Dark of the Moon decided to get ahead of the competition and open on Wednesday, June 29 of that year. By the holiday, it had already grossed $162 million domestically, and on July 4th brought in $18 million. Transformers: Dark of the Moon went on to gross $352 million domestically and $1.12 billion worldwide and was the 2nd highest-grossing movie of the year both domestic and worldwide behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2.

6 Hancock

     Sony Pictures

The third Will Smith film on the list and his biggest single gross on 4th of July to date, Hancock opened in theaters on July 2, 2008. With the 4th of July landing on a Friday, the traditional release date for films, Hancock was able to bring in $18.5 million on the holiday. Its three-day opening weekend gross was $62 million. Hancock became the fourth highest-grossing film at both the domestic and worldwide box office that year, with a final worldwide total of $629 million beating out established franchises like James Bond, Madagascar, and Narnia. Hancock was an original concept, and the power of its star helped boost it to be one of the must-see films of the summer of 2008.

5 Spider-Man 2

In 2002, Spider-Man broke the opening weekend box office record and helped cement the first weekend of May as the new kick-off to the summer movie season. Spider-Man 2 had a lot riding on it, and the film would be the big Fourth of July release of 2004. It opened in theaters on June 30, 2004, and by the time the 4th of July landed on that Sunday, the film had already grossed $130 million. On July 4, 2004, Spider-Man 2 brought in a then record-breaking $21 million dollars for the holiday. With a $373 million domestic total and a $788 million worldwide gross, it became one of the biggest movies of the year. It would also set a template for the Spider-Man release schedule where some would open the first week of May, and the others (which will make up more films on this list) would open on the Fourth of July weekend.

4 The Amazing Spider-Man

The second, but not the last, Spider-Man movie, on the list, The Amazing Spider-Man was a reboot of the Spider-Man movie series released only five years after Spider-Man 3. Even with a new cast, there was concern the reboot might be too soon, but it appeared Spider-Man was just what audiences wanted that holiday weekend to get out of the heat. Released on July 3, 2012, the 4th of July landed on The Amazing Spider-Man’s second day of release and the film brought in $23 million dollars on the holiday. It went on to gross $262 million domestic and $757 worldwide and was the third highest-grossing film of the summer behind The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises. While The Amazing Spider-Man film series fizzled out quickly, there was no denying that audiences were excited and curious about this new take on the franchise at the time.

3 Despicable Me 2

     Universal Pictures

All the Despicable Me and Minions movies have opened around July. While the first Despicable Me film opened on July 9, a few days after the holiday Illumination Entertainment looked at that film’s success and realized they had a hit on their hands. Opening on July 3, 2013, Despicable Me 2 brought in $24 million on the Fourth of July. It easily crushed the big release from Disney that weekend, The Lone Ranger, which only managed to bring in $9 million. With $368 million domestic gross and $970 million worldwide Despicable Me 2 became one of the highest-grossing films of 2013 beating out films like Man of Steel, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Monsters University. No wonder Universal Pictures was so adamant about keeping Minions: The Rise of Gru on Fourth of July weekend, delaying it for two years.

2 Spider-Man: Far From Home

     Sony Pictures Releasing

Spider-Man: Homecoming opened in theaters on July 7, 2017, just barely missing the 4th of July holiday weekend. Yet with a Spider-Man movie whose premise is entirely about a summer vacation opening on the 4th of July weekend seemed like a perfect formula for printing money. Spider-Man: Far From Home opened in theaters on July 2, 2019, and by the time the 4th of July hit the film grossed $25 million on the holiday. Spider-Man: Far From Home went on to gross $390 million domestically and $1.13 billion worldwide becoming at the time the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie. Following the massive success of Avengers: Endgame didn’t hurt, and even with competition from the newest season of Stranger Things, which was also centered on the Fourth of July, Spider-Man: Far From Home was the film audiences young and old wanted to watch to celebrate the holiday.

1 Transformers

Transformers is in many ways the big one. Transformers was, in a sense, the successor to Independence Day, with a marketing campaign shrouded in secrecy. Much of the marketing teased the robot’s new designs and promised a grand epic spectacle, adapting the ’80s cartoon characters with state-of-the-art CGI. The film felt like an event, and the film was set to open in theaters on July 4, 2007, but just like with Independence Day the excitement was at a fever pitch. So, Paramount Pictures decided to bump up the release by a day, and before advanced day of screenings were standard practice, they started showings at 7 p.m. on July 2nd.

Transformers grossed $29 million on the Fourth of July, setting the record for the single biggest movie to play on the holiday and one it still holds after 15 years. Transformers went on to gross $319 million domestically and $709 million worldwide, kicking off a successful film franchise of Terminator movies that became linked to the Fourth of July holiday weekend. It is hard to believe it’s been 15 years since the Transformers release, and the film is actually set to return to theaters to celebrate its anniversary. The critical reaction to Transformers may have been mixed, but in many ways is one of the quintessential Fourth of July movies, it gives audiences the big over-the-top spectacle and non-stop action with a warm summer glow that plays well on a hot summer day.