As an avid fan of movies, it is time once again to take a look at movies coming out over the next month and to get a feel for what people will be going to the movies to watch. Since I missed doing this last month, I will begin this month's look at movies with a look back at the last month, and then look ahead to the major movies coming out. With that said, let's get to it.

The month of April saw a couple major releases that served to whet the appetite for movie goers for the blockbusters that May will bring. Over the last month, we have witnessed a live action remake of Disney's Jungle Book, a pair of faith based movies that were hits, and the sequel to 2012's forgettable Kristen Stewart Snow White vehicle. While the early part of the month saw Batman vs. Superman dominating the box office, there was room for God's Not Dead 2 to amass 19 million dollars, while the March holdover Miracles From Heaven steamrolled to right at $60 million dollars. It is always amazing when faith based movies are able to do well at the box office and makes one wonder why more aren't released. Toward the middle of the month, Disney's Jungle Book released and stormed to making over $250 million over the course of the rest of the month. The success of Jungle Book just goes to show that if you put the Disney name on a movie, it is most often a license to print money. Finally, the Hunstman: Winter's War released and was able to carve out a niche that allowed it to make right at $34 million in two weeks while Jungle Book was dominating the box office. All figures for this look at April were obtained through http://www.boxofficemojo.com/.

Having taken a look at the movies that were dominating the box office last month, let's take a look forward at what is coming over the course of May. Earlier in the year, I mentioned that 2016 was going to be a comic book fan's dream for major motion pictures coming out this year. We have already seen major smashes from Fox and Warner Brothers with Deadpool and Batman vs. Superman, respectively. Both films steamrolled to making over $300 million in their respective releases. While both movies were amazing displays of comic books on film, they were but the appetizer for the release of Disney's Captain America: Civil War on May 6th.

There is a very real possibility that Civil War will make it to $300 million in its first week. The Marvel Cinematic Universe machine, bolstered by Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and an appearance by Spider-Man (man, it felt good to be able to type that), should launch Civil War into the realm of challenging records for a May opening. The current record for a May opening, once again according to Box Office Mojo, is 2012's Avengers with $207 million. Civil War has already made that much internationally, and it has yet to open here in the states. So yeah, Civil War is going to make a truckload of money. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, another Disney production, holds the all time record with almost $248 million, which is likely not in play for Civil War. Think about it for a moment, since the beginning of December in 2015, Disney has made over $1.5 billion dollars. That is a staggering figure, and it has done that in just at half a year. So, with the first weekend of May covered (no other national release is scheduled for the 6th), it is time to look at the following week.

Friday the 13th will bring out some heavy hitters looking to try and cut into the dominance of Civil War. Kevin Bacon is the star of a horror film called The Darkness, while George Clooney and Julia Roberts are the leads in a very slick looking film called Money Monster. I am not personally much of a fan of horror movies myself, but with a name like Kevin Bacon leading it, I would expect The Darkness to capture some attention. Money Monster, on the other hand, screams of a film that I will love. First off, I love to watch George Clooney on the big screen. Few actors are his equal in terms of bringing an old Hollywood feel to films and capturing the essence of the old school leading men of Hollywood's golden years. Add in the subject matter of the economic collapse of 2008, and there is a very compelling movie to be watched, and I have not even talked about the fact that Julia Roberts lends her impressive star power to the project. This film will be extremely good.

The 20th of May will bring a trio of films that are of interest. The first of these is a movie called the Nice Guys, led by Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. I believe that this will be a decent movie that will experience the curse of right movie wrong time, as this movie just feels like it will be destined to be swallowed up by the other films that will be available at the same time. Sony looks to weigh in on the lucrative animation market with its movie based on the Angry Birds app based game. Angry Birds will make money, but it remains to be seen just how much in the wake of what should still be a strong market for Civil War. The third new release of this weekend will be the raunchy comedy sequel to 2014's The Neighbors. The Neighbors 2 ups the ante on the raunch by having a sorority move in beside the straight laced couple, rather than a fraternity as in the first movie. There will be plenty of drinking, sex, and probably even some drug use and there will be a market for the comedy to help it make some money. In the end, I fully expect Civil War to enjoy a third straight week on top of the box office, but that status will likely end the following week.

Two movies will look to knock Civil War from its perch on the 27th. The first contender will be Disney's sequel to 2010's massively successful Alice in Wonderland, Alice: Through the Looking Glass. With Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen leading the effort, this film is guaranteed to make significant amounts of money. Whether or not it opens on the top of the box office, however, will be determined by the success of this week's other new film. Fox's own version of Disney's MCU contains three properties, the aforementioned Deadpool, the somewhat successful Fantastic Four, and the massively popular X-men movies. This week, X-men: Apocalypse debuts to immense interest. There is every reason to expect that this movie will be the top movie of the weekend, and there is at least a puncher's chance that it will challenge what should be a new record for a May release, set just three weeks earlier by Civil War. In the end, with staunch competition from Alice: Through the Looking Glass and the holdover from Civil War, X-men: Apocalypse will likely fall short of the record, but it will still rake in truckloads of money.

So, there you have it. Between Civil War, X-men, and Alice, May will be a great month to go to movies for geeks everywhere. There will be all manner of geeky persuasions to watch, and I for one cannot wait to go see each of the new movies, with the possible exception of The Darkness. It is going to be scary, and I will need someone to come with me and hold my hand if I am go see that one. Any volunteers? Until next month, have a great month watching movies everyone!