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After taking a dip in June, the box office rebounded in July to nearly $1.4 billion. That not only set a new July gross record, but a new benchmark for any month, beating the previous high of $1.32 million from July 2010 by close to six percent. July 2007 is the only other month to see a gross of over $1.3 billion, and the seven highest-grossing months of all time are all July's.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon joined Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in the $1 billion worldwide club yesterday. This marked the first time in history that three movies from the same year, much less the same season, all reached that mark, and it spoke volumes about the expanding nature of the foreign market as well as the continued popularity of 3D outside of America. The third Transformers is the tenth movie ever to earn $1 billion worldwide, and it moved past The Dark Knight to rank ninth on the all-time chart.

While August is technically part of the summer box office, the blockbuster festivities usually start to wind down by then. That's no truer than this year. Aside from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, there aren't really any obvious $100 million movies on the horizon. A high-grossing July, though, should help drive this August ahead of last year's $874.6 million. This August could even contest August 2007's $920.5 million record, though that's going to require a break-out hit from the ranks of comedies The Change-Up and 30 Minutes or Less and '80s remakes Conan the Barbarian and Fright Night.Tim BurtonJames FrancoRyan ReynoldsJason BatemanLeslie MannRuben FleischerJesse EisenbergAziz AnsariDanny McBrideEmma StoneRobert RodriguezArnold SchwarzeneggerAnne HathawayJim SturgessLuc BessonOlivier MegatonZoe SaldañaJason StathamPaul Rudd

Transformers: Dark of the Moon's two-week head start couldn't hold off Harry Potter's record-breaking pace: Deathly Hallows Part 2 passed $1 billion worldwide (domestic plus foreign) on Sunday, while Transformers still has a few days left before it arrives at that coveted milestone.

Studio estimates of $36.2 million apiece had Cowboys & Aliens and The Smurfs in a photo finish for the weekend top spot, but Cowboys came out ahead, $36.4 million to $35.6 million, when final numbers were tabulated. Captain America: The First Avenger retreated to third, the final Harry Potter hit another milestone, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. rounded out the Top Five in its debut. Daniel CraigHarrison FordRaja GosnellSteve Carell

On Friday, The Smurfs rustled up slightly more dollars than Cowboys & Aliens, upsetting pre-weekend tracking that indicated Cowboys would rope in more. Captain America: The First Avenger retreated to third, the final Harry Potter hit another milestone, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. rounded out the Top Five in its debut. Raja Gosnell

This weekend, three new nationwide releases duke it out: Cowboys & Aliens rides on to approximately 5,600 screens at 3,750 locations, The Smurfs plucks around 5,400 screens at 3,395 locations (including 2,042 showing it in 3D), while Crazy, Stupid, Love. woos more than 3,300 screens at 3,020 locations. Throw in holdovers Captain America: The First Avenger and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, and that's the Top Five for the weekend. Jon FavreauDaniel CraigHarrison FordAlex KurtzmanRon HowardBrian GrazerSteven SpielbergClint EastwoodSteve CarellRyan GoslingJulianne MooreEmma Stone

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 crossed the $900 million worldwide mark on Wednesday, its 15th day in release. That made Harry's last stand the fastest movie ever to reach that milestone, breaking Avatar's 18-day record.

In the Dec. 16 game of chicken between Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, it was Mission that flinched as expected. Additionally, the Untitled Star Trek Sequel was removed from next summer's schedule, its slot filled by the G.I. Joe sequel, distributor Paramount Pictures announced today.

Taking advantage of July's strong weekday business, Captain America: The First Avenger drew $7.8 million on Tuesday, extending its lead over Thor as Summer 2011's fastest-grossing superhero movie. Captain's generated $80.6 million in five days, compared to Thor's $76.5 million, X-Men: First Class's $65.6 million and Green Lantern's $63.3 million at the same point. So it's been a solid run for the Marvel Comics movie thus far, but it's not to be overstated: Captain's estimated five-day attendance lies slightly ahead of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and slightly behind The Incredible Hulk.

After destroying the foreign opening record last weekend, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 tumbled 62 percent in its second weekend, but that still translated to a massive $120.2 million estimated haul. In second, Transformers: Dark of the Moon's record-breaking debut in China helped it reach a handful of significant milestones and pulled it ever closer to the coveted $1 billion worldwide mark. James Cameron

Captain America: The First Avenger led the box office on Monday, earning $7.75 million for a four-day total of $72.8 million. The Monday figure led all of Summer 2011's comic book adaptations including Thor ($5.4 million), which was to be expected considering the difference between May and July weekdays. Also, after opening slightly behind Thor, Captain America moved ahead on Monday and should finish the week with a significant lead over its Avengers predecessor.

"Over the weekend, The Undefeated charged into six-digit territory, posting a smaller drop than Harry Potter and a higher per-theater average than Larry Crowne and Mr. Popper's Penguins! Not only that, it beat its weekend estimate, and it's already nearing the Top 50 of political documentaries!"

It was a dollar-spangled debut for Captain America: The First Avenger. Despite being the last to strike, the most famous superhero of Summer 2011's comic-book onslaught delivered the best opening attendance of the bunch, while Harry Potter's last stand fell prey to the adage, "the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Despite being the last to strike, the most famous superhero of Summer 2011's comic-book onslaught delivered the best opening salvo of the bunch, while the wizard wunderkind's last stand fell prey to the adage, "the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

A little less than ten years ago, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone established a new opening weekend record when it debuted to $90.3 million. Since then, that record has been held by Spider-Man ($114.8 million), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($135.6 million), Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million). Just a few days ago, Potter reclaimed the top spot, with serious finale Deathly Hallows Part 2 scoring a massive $169.2 million. Looking at the upcoming release schedule, Potter may not hold the crown for very long. Here are the Top Five contenders through the end of 2012:Christopher NolanHeath LedgerWill SmithJ.J. Abrams

A week that started as a record-breaker for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ended as a third-place finisher, but it still exceeded the next fastest-grossing Potter, Half-Blood Prince, by over 27 percent.

Midnight: Captain America: The First Avenger drew $4 million at approximately 2,000 locations in its midnight opening. That compared favorably to the other superhero movies of the summer: X-Men: First Class ($3.38 million), Green Lantern ($3.35 million) and Thor ($3.25 million). Chris EvansNatalie PortmanMila KunisAshton KutcherJustin Timberlake

Worldwide Update: On Wednesday, Deathly Hallows Part 2 racked up another $35.2 million, bringing its foreign haul to $425.3 million. Add in domestic, and it's made $640.2 million worldwide, surpassing Fast Five to become the third highest-grossing movie of 2011 so far. That also means the final Potter struck the $600 million worldwide mark in record time. It took just eight days, compared to Transformers: Dark of the Moon's 11-day run and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides's 12-day run. As a whole, the Harry Potter franchise heralded another milestone: it hit the $7 billion mark. It's been the top-grossing franchise globally since the sixth movie, Half-Blood Prince.

On Tuesday, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 rocketed past the $200 million mark in just five days. The only other movies to hit $200 million in five days were The Dark Knight and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.