*By Max Godnick*
Hollywood is having its best summer at the box office in years, flipping the script after nearly being pushed to the brink in 2017.
Last year was the lowest-grossing summer since 2006, sparking a slew of [headlines](http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-movie-projector-summer-meltdown-20170830-story.html) mourning the demise of the movie theater. The year was marked by some notable bombs including "Baywatch," "The Mummy," and the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" installment.
But it's the success of this year's "Incredibles 2," "Avengers: Infinity War," and "Deadpool 2" that make all that hand-wringing for naught.
"Everybody was tolling the death knell for the cinema experience," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst at ComScore, in an interview with Cheddar on Friday. "It shows you what a difference a year makes."
According to ComScore's reporting through July 11th, this year's summer box office is up nearly 13% over 2017. While it's unlikely that Hollywood will surpass its record-breaking summer of 2013, when "Iron Man 3" led the season to a $4.75 billion take, Dergarabedian says it's likely to be the strongest of the last few years. That's largely to the credit of the string of commercially and critically successful superhero movie premieres.
And it might stay that way for years to come.
"There's no sign of superhero fatigue at all," Dergarabedian said.
Caped and costumed vigilantes aren't the only ones helping Hollywood dig itself out of last summer's hole. Documentaries are emerging as one of the season's most surprising saviors.
"Documentaries are killing it right now," Dergarabedian said, pointing to the $25 million in ticket sales generated by the unscripted movies "RBG" and "Won't You Be My Neighbor," which the analyst described as "no small thing."
The season has also seen studios break boundaries of inclusion and diversity. "Black Panther" set the tone in February, becoming the ninth-highest-grossing movie and the most successful one from a black director and with a black lead. Now, "Ant-Man and The Wasp" is the first Marvel movie to use a female character's name in the title. Brie Larson will star as "Captain Marvel" next year, and Cate Shortland will become the studio's first solo female director when she helms the standalone "Black Widow" movie.
"I think we're going to look back and say this was a turning point where there is no limit on who could lead a superhero movie," Dergarabedian said.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-hollywood-saved-itself-from-a-summer-box-office-disaster)
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of HereAfter AI discusses how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed; Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover' explains how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Humboldt Current.'
According to the Federal Reserve, the investment gap between Black and white Americans has remained substantial, with only 34 percent of Black households joining in on the historic rise in the markets. Stacey Tisdale, the first Black woman to have reported from the NYSE and the CEO and president of Mind Money Media Inc., said that the data might not be as disheartening as it seems. "I think that number is very deceiving. That Federal Reserve study is actually from 2019, and it's very important that we all look beneath that number and look beneath the surface because there is nothing short of an investing revolution going on in the Black community," Tisdale said.
James Vlahos, Co-Founder and CEO of HereAfter AI, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how artificial intelligence can be used to preserve family history and stories, and allow you to 'talk' to loved ones that have passed.
Ava Rathenberg, Creator of the board game 'Travel Explore Discover,' joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how she came up with the idea for this informative and educational board game, and how she's using the proceeds to give back to her community.
An award-winning performance by the LSU Tiger Girls dance team is going viral on TikTok, but like many other viral tiktoks, this one had a larger story to tell. The story goes back to 2021 when for the first time in 22 years, the LSU dance team was informed it could not compete at Universal Dance Association Nationals. The team made their anticipated return to UDA Nationals this year with a performance that delivered a strong and clear message to their university. The LSU Tiger Girls walked away from the competition with their first national championship title in 12 years, redemption against the university that held them back, and of course- millions of new fans and friends on TikTok.
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL over racial discrimination, exposing a long-running problem the NFL has had with diversity in its top coaching and management positions. Eric Mitchell, the president and CEO of public relations and communications company LifeFlip Media, joined Cheddar News to delve into the scandal rocking the pro football world just before the Super Bowl. "There is a problem. If you look at who owns teams in the NFL, it's right, it's a good old boys club, it's a bunch of old white guys," he said. "So, it's exposing something that's been around for ages and now that we're sitting in 2022 has come up."
This April, Madison Square Garden will be hosting the first-ever women's boxing match to headline at the arena in its 140 years of history in boxing. Undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor, and seven-division champion, Amanda Serrano, will go head-to-head for a career-high guaranteed seven-figure purse for both of them. The pair joined Cheddar News to talk about the upcoming "fight of their lives." "I mean, this is the first step I believe," said Serrano. "Unheard of, two women headlining the Garden, we get in the biggest paydays of our career, I hope it continues to break down barriers."
Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, founder of BrainTrust Founders Studio joins Cheddar News to talk about the importance of supporting Black beauty and wellness founders.
