This summer was a very profitable one for box offices nationwide, with four movies grossing over $300M, and at least another nine grossing over $100M -- signaling in a big way the resurgence of the movie industry, which had been struggling for the last few years.

The four big $300M+ winners of the summer were Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE: SNE) 'sSpider-Man 3, which grossed $336M in the U.S., Viacom, Inc (NYSE: VIA)'s Paramount's Shrek the Third, which grossed $320M, Transformers, also from Paramount, which grossed $311M, and The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS)'s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which grossed $308M.

Three of the four were third installments of well established big-budget franchises, so their success is hardly shocking, but the Transformers success clearly marks the start of a new blockbuster franchise (the release date of the sequel has been announced -- June 26, 2009). The robot-action extravaganza, which was directed by Michael Bay, was definitely a surprise, as I remarked in my summer movie preview that Transformers "has flop written all over it... there cannot possibly be enough substance in a story about alien robots that transform into vehicles to make this a hit with the general public." I was wrong -- very wrong. The movie killed at the box office, grossing over $330M on a $150M budget, and prompting a re-release on IMAX, which opened last week.

Yesterday we learned that Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) is taking another shot at the movie promotion business by pushing (for a cut of the action) the National Geographic movie "Arctic Tale." Starbuck's initial effort, last year's "Akeela and the Bee," had indifferent results.

While most of the big releases for 2007 already have commercial tie-ins, I thought about other companies that might make money by offering some targeted marketing. Perhaps

• Ratatouille -- KFC (Yum Brands, NYSE: YUM)
• The 40-year old Virgin -- Weight Watchers Intl (NYSE: WTW)
• Sicko -- The Church of Scientology
• Live Free or Die Hard -- Viagra (Pfizer, NYSE: PFE)
• Evan Almighty -- Chris Craft
• Transformers: The Mitt Romney Campaign
• The Simpsons Movie: Sylvan Learning
• Hairspray: Lane Bryant (Charming Shoppes, Inc., NASDAQ: CHRS)
• Hostel: Part II -- Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT)
• 1408 -- Hostelling International

And, as a special subscriber gift offer promotion,

• The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones, NYSE: DJ) -- Citizen Kane

I recently blogged about my concerns if Evan Almighty flopped this weekend.

I, as well as many others, would classify the $32.1 million opening weekend of Evan as a flop. Peter Sanders of the WSJ believes that Evan Almighty was the first "major pothole" in Hollywood's sequel-filled summer. He also put Evan in the same category as Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, by saying May's blockbuster "threequels" were all expected to fall short of their previous domestic sales numbers.

Could that be true? Looking at the numbers, Sanders has a good argument. That's only if you thought sequels should outperform the original. Other than Shrek II, most of the recent sequels made less than its predecessors. Even the Harry Potter franchise couldn't make a sequel that outperformed the $317.5 million earned from Sorcerer's Stone.

Evan Almighty, sequel to the 2003 hit Bruce Almighty, is opening this weekend to some bad reviews. The estimated $175 million price-tag, which earned itself the title "the most expensive comedy story ever told," had to raise some eyebrows from the beginning.

Still, Universal executives Marc Shmuger and David Linde think they're going to rake in the dough with the Almighty sequel. "This movie is a great bet," Universal Chairman Marc Shmuger told the LA Times last year. "It's a spectacle fantasy and also a comedy. And a sequel to one of the most successful hits in the studio's history."

If Tom Shadyac's Evan Almighty turns into a hit, as Shumger and Universal hopes, the movie could put big-budget comedies on the front burner. If it flops, don't expect to see another big comedy for a while. Remember how Kevin Costner's Waterworld flopped in 1995? Costner's budget was also estimated at $175 million (back then), however, the U.S. box office only raked in $88 million. We didn't see too many high budget sci-fi flicks for a while after that one.

Who does this hurt? Well, it hurts General Electric (NYSE: GE) for one, parent company of Universal Pictures. Outside of the possibility of it hurting Steve Carell's career, it hurts you, the viewer. If Evan flops, don't expect to laugh while munching on your popcorn at the movies anytime soon.

The publicity machine is working overtime for General Electric Co.'s (NYSE:GE) Universal Studio's production Knocked Up.

The film, starring Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen, opens today. As part of the fanfare, Universal has created a web site where you can create a mashup showing how the offspring of you and anyone you choose might appear.

Unfortunately, this feature doesn't work as well as one might wish. For example, check out this result, supposedly the visage of a child from a coupling of yours truly and Miss Universe Rita Mori (I can dream, can't I?) Even given that my gifts are not physical, the alien creature that resulted doesn't serve as a good advertisement for the film.

Nonetheless, early reviews for the film are good, and gives Universal hope that this summer will offer strong returns. In a couple of weeks they will premiere another potential hit, Evan Almighty, the sequel to Bruce Almighty starring Steve Carrell (of the 40-Year-Old-Virgin, another film by Knocked Up Director Judd Apatow).