Movies had the worst summer since 1997. That's funny because you can jumble that sentence around to say "worst summer movies since 1997" and it would still be accurate. Refreshing twist to this article? Piracy wasn't even mentioned.

Analysts in the spring had predicted an 11 percent drop, citing viewing distractions like the World Cup and scuttled release plans for films like "Fast and Furious 6" and Pixar's "Good Dinosaur," which both had production problems. But the decline was worse than expected, and the reason, analysts and studio executives said, may have been a nasty case of déjà vu.

Tom Cruise's futuristic "Edge of Tomorrow," for instance, looked like a hit - and that was exactly its problem. The title was too similar to "The Day After Tomorrow," released in summer 2004. The barren landscape too closely resembled Mr. Cruise's 2013 film "Oblivion." Characters walking around in robot exoskeletons? Been there ("Pacific Rim"), done that ("Real Steel").

Despite stellar reviews, "Edge of Tomorrow" took in $99.9 million at North American theaters, a major disappointment for Warner Bros., which spent at least $250 million on production and domestic marketing.

"Hercules," which arrived seven months after "The Legend of Hercules," turned out to be a box office weakling. "Sex Tape" was heavily marketed on Cameron Diaz's legs, but moviegoers shrugged: Sorry, we've seen them. "Both ‘Sex Tape' and ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West' failed to stand out among the other R-rated comedies," said Phil Contrino, the chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.