Move over Barbenheimer, your post-pandemic box-office record is under threat from a new crop of movies set to put bums on seats this winter.

Like that butterfly flapping its wings in some far-flung destination, what happens in Hollywood soon reverberates in cinemas around the world, and this is most acutely felt during the Northern Hemisphere summer.

The lengthy seasonal school holidays combined with sweltering temperatures send scores of Americans to seek the air-conditioned comfort of the cinema.

To maximise the earning potential of this period, Hollywood studios have long realised the merit in saving the biggest movies for the hottest months, a phenomenon that arguably began with the release of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws in 1975.

Then COVID took what some pundits believed was a fatal bite out of the box office that the industry would never recover from.

At least until the twin release of Barbie and Oppenheimer in 2023, which saw punters flock back to the cinema, driving the all-important US domestic box-office total above $US4 billion ($5.6b), the first summer to hit that mark since 2019.

And it hasn’t gotten close since, with dual writers and actors strikes pushing back productions and putting a dent in industry optimism.

Well, the optimism is back and so is a selection of blockbusters that feels positively pre-pandemic.

With the first quarter already delivering a stronger return at the US box office than 2023, industry projections are tipping America’s domestic summer movie take could top $US4b again.

So, grab your popcorn — why not lash out on a commemorative bucket, too? And read on for a comprehensive guide to blockbuster season.

Toy Story 5 (out now)

It’s hard to justify the existence of the fifth instalment of this beloved animated franchise on artistic merit, but its box-office potential speaks for itself. Anything less than $US1b would be a huge disappointment for Disney Pixar. Woody (Tom Hanks) comes back from self-imposed exile to help the toys deal with a new threat that will be very relatable to parents in the audience — a dreaded device, voiced by Greta Lee.

Supergirl (June 25)

One of the more fascinating case studies for the health of the box office and superhero movies in general is Supergirl, featuring Aussie House Of The Dragon star Milly Alcock in the title role. Last year’s Superman was only a modest success, with much stronger IP, so Alcock has her work cut out for her playing the Man of Steel’s troublemaking cousin. But in director James Gunn we trust, after he helmed the Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy and now runs DC Studios. Jason Momoa co-stars as Lobo.

Minions & Monsters (June 25)

With box-office revenue of nearly $8b, the Despicable Me franchise is one of the most successful in movie history, and there’s no good reason to think the seventh instalment will be any different. Helmed by the franchise’s long-time director Pierre Coffin — who, fun fact, also provides the voice of most of the Minions — this film finds the loveable yellow creatures in the 1920s trying to make a monster movie, with real monsters.

Moana (July 8)

Disney’s hit musical Moana is the latest animated feature from the Mouse House to get the live-action adaptation. To be honest, the track record of these things is patchy at best — the recent Snow White adaptation was diabolical, in fact — but there’s reason to be optimistic. Dwayne Johnson returns to play demigod Maui and Catherine Lagaʻaia looks fantastic in the title role.

The Odyssey (July 16)

Christopher Nolan doing his interpretation of Homer’s epic, with a ridiculously star-studded cast — what could possibly go wrong?Matt Damon is maybe not anyone’s first choice to play Odysseus, but everything about this project looks awesome. Shot for IMAX, it is guaranteed to be spectacular, with a cast including Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anna Hathaway, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron. Take our money already.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 30)

The promo tour for Tom Holland’s fourth outing as everyone’s favourite webslinger is in full swing, so expect to hear a lot about this movie in the coming weeks. All you really need to know right now is it’s set after the events of No Way Home, in which a spell cast by Dr Strange made the entire world forget Peter Parker ever existed. Under this veil of anonymity, Peter is free to fight street-level crime in New York as a proper, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Zendaya returns, too, and this time is joined in the cast by Stranger Things star Sadie Sink, Mark “the Hulk” Ruffalo and Jon Bernthal as the Punisher.

The End of Oak Street (August 13)

Check out the trailer for this film — it looks wild. That’s “wild” in a prehistoric sense, because Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor’s quiet suburban existence is disrupted by the arrival of dinosaurs. Exactly why this happens is unknown, but, with actors of this calibre, it might pay to just go along with it. The film is written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, who previously gave us the excellent 2014 horror flick It Follows.

Spa Weekend (August 20)

An all-female comedy from the dudes who wrote The Hangover? OK, you have our attention. The creative team of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore also directed Bad Moms, which had its funny moments. It also had some questioning whether two blokes writing this material leant on tired cliches a little too much. Either way, we’re willing to be open-minded about a comedy that stars our very own Isla Fisher, who is hilarious, alongside Leslie Mann, Anna Faris and Michelle Buteau.

The Dog Stars (August 27)

Based on the 2012 novel by Peter Heller, this post-apocalyptic thriller from legendary director Ridley Scott follows a group of survivors of a deadly flu pandemic. Get a load of this cast: Josh Brolin, Jacob Elordi, Guy Pearce, Margaret Qualley and Benedict Wong. That alone is reason to buy a ticket and certainly helps one get over the feeling it is still too soon to be watching a movie about a pandemic. Just sayin’.

HORROR BONANZA

The recent success of Obsession and Backrooms proves the box-office reliability of the horror genre isn’t going anywhere, and you can expect a bunch of scary flicks over winter.

Titles to look out for include Evil Dead Burn (July 9), Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man (August 8) and the latest instalment of the Insidious franchise, Insidious: Out Of The Further (August 20).

And, though technically a slasher film rather than horror, Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma (August 6) looks like a ton of fun, starring Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder (Hacks).