The American summer season stretches longer than at home, running from the first Friday in May to the first Monday in September.
This year the summer slate opened with Stallone’s First Blood Part II.
It hit theaters in late May and pulled in $150 million at the North American box office in a month.
In the early to mid-’80s, Stallone, riding the Rocky and First Blood franchises, kept cranking out sequels and was the undisputed top action star.
When Schwarzenegger rose, it became a duel of titans: two muscle-bound heroes, each strutting in and out of the ring.
First Blood Part II was distributed by Columbia, and because it did so well they got a nice cut of the distribution fees.
The reason the Hollywood “Big Eight” are the Big Eight isn’t just production power — it’s also their distribution muscle.