Bolstered by May tentpole releases including Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third, and a strong late-summer showing from The Simpsons Movie and The Bourne Ultimatum, the summer of 2007 was the biggest in history on both sides of the border.

In Canada, the total box office from May 4 to Aug. 30 stands at $362 million, up 12% from $324 million last year, while the total North American box office reached US$4 billion for the first time ever in a summer, according to Variety.

The predictable hits including the third instalments of the Spider-Man, Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises were among the top earners of the season, each raking in over US$300 million at the North American box office. More surprisingly, Paramount/DreamWorks’ Transformers, based on the ’80s cartoon series, earned the number three spot for the summer, with a total take of US$311 million.

Other unexpected mega-hits such as The Simpsons Movie, which opened to $10 million in Canada on July 27, helped ensure that the summer wasn’t ‘top-heavy,’ according to distribution expert Howard Lichtman of the Lightning Group.

‘Certain summers the winner hands-down is May, because of all the big releases, and then in July everything is peetered out. This year, [the months] are much more evenly split,’ Lichtman told Playback Daily in an earlier interview.

‘The Simpsons was a big benefit to the summer of blockbusters,’ agrees Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob. The cartoon has made an estimated US$484 million worldwide as of Sept. 9, according to Box Office Mojo.

Other contributors to the success of the summer box office include Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, with a total take of US$288 million in North America, the sequel The Bourne Ultimatum with US$210 million, Buena Vista’s Ratatouille with US$201 million, and the comedy Knocked Up with an unexpected US$150 million.

‘Knocked Up was a lovely surprise, out of the blue… a film that nobody really knew much about or put a lot of weight to, but it did well,’ says Dean Leland, VP of marketing for Halifax-based Empire Theatres.

The summer wasn’t without its share of disappointments, including the Steve Carell-starrer Evan Almighty from Universal Pictures, which, despite its hefty US$175-million price tag, opened with a dreary US$31-million at the North American box office.

The sequel to Bruce Almighty has made US$99 million to date, putting it behind other comedies including Superbad, with US$103 million, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with US$117 million.