What was the highest-grossing summer movie for every year, 1980
through 2001? (Please include a source that I can verify with.)

For example, the answer would look something like this:

1980: Terms of Endearment [or whatever]
1981: The Empire Strikes Back
1982:
.
.
.
Source: [source], found here: [URL]

Hi there Vacilon-ga,

Good question. Here are my results:

Top Grossing Summer Movies by year:

1980: $ 290,266,497  The Empire Strikes Back 
1981: $ 245,034,358  Raiders of the Lost Ark 
1982: $ 399,804,539  E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
1983: $ 309,153,948  Return of the Jedi
1984: $ 238,600,000  Ghostbusters 
1985: $ 210,609,762  Back to the Future 
1986: $ 177,000,000  Top Gun 
1987: $ 240,000,000  Three Men & a Baby 
1988: $ 172,000,000  Rain Man 
1989: $ 251,188,924  Batman 
1990: $ 217,618,602  Ghost 
1991: $ 204,843,344  Terminator 2: Judgement Day 
1992: $ 217,000,000  Aladdin 
1993: $ 357,067,947  Jurassic Park 
1994: $ 329,694,499  Forrest Gump 
1995: $ 192,000,000  Toy Story 
1996: $ 241,708,908  Twister  
1997: $ 250,690,53   Men in Black 
1998: $ 216,173,32   Saving Private Ryan 
1999: $ 431,088,295  Star Wars: Episode One—The Phantom Menace 
2000: $ 215,409,889  Mission: Impossible 
2001: $ 255,526,280  Shrek 

Sources: Top 25 Summer Films of All Time [
http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0761153.html ] and MOVIEWEB: Top 50+
All Time Highest Grossing Movies [
http://movieweb.com/movie/alltime.html ] and Screen Source: Top
Grossing Movies - $200 + Million Adjusted [
http://www.amug.org/~scrnsrc/top_grossing_movies_adj.html ]

--

Top Grossing Movies by year: 

1980: $ 290,158,751   Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
1981: $ 242,374,454   Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982: $ 399,804,539   E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1983: $ 309,125,409   Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
1984: $ 238,600,000   Ghostbusters
1985: $ 210,609,762   Back to the Future  
1986: $ 176,781,720   Top Gun 
1987: $ 167,700,960   Three Men and a Baby  
1988: $ 172,825,435   Rain Man  
1989: $ 251,188,924   Batman
1990: $ 285,761,243   Home Alone  
1991: $ 204,843,350   Terminator 2: Judgment Day  
1992: $ 217,350,219   Aladdin  
1993: $ 356,784,000   Jurassic Park 
1994: $ 329,691,196   Forrest Gump  
1995: $ 191,800,000   Toy Story  
1996: $ 306,124,059   Independence Day  
1997: $ 600,779,824   Titanic  
1998: $ 216,119,491   Saving Private Ryan  
1999: $ 431,065,444   Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 
2000: $ 260,031,035   How the Grinch Stole Christmas  
2001: $ 317,503,512   Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone  

For the above stats (Top Grossing Movies by year) Please note the
website indicates for the current year (as described above) the top
grossing films were first released, however made most of their income
in a later year.

Sources: Internet Movie Database, found at [
http://us.imdb.com/Sections/Years/ ] and to find the top grossing
movies of the year you may visit [
http://us.imdb.com/Sections/Years/2001/top-grossing ] -- Simply change
the year number to suit.

Search terms used:

Exhibitor Relations top gross [
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Exhibitor+Relations+top+gross
]

I hope this answer is sufficient! If not, I am more then happy to
clarify.
Thank you for using Google Answers.

Kind regards,
mistajon-ga

Just what I was looking for. Thanks.

Just for kicks, here's a list of 100 the top-grossing movies of all
time adjusted for inflation
(http://www.moviesite.net/charts/boxoffice-adj.htm)    The last column
is its' adjusted gross:

1   Gone With the Wind               1939  $198.6  $919.8 
2   Star Wars                        1977  $461.0  $798.0  
3   The Sound of Music               1965  $158.7  $638.0  
4   E.T.                             1982  $399.8  $600.7 
5   Titanic                          1997  $600.7  $600.7  
6   The Ten Commandments             1956  $65.5   $586.9  
7   Jaws                             1975  $260.0  $573.8  
8   Doctor Zhivago                   1965  $111.7  $542.5  
9   The Jungle Book                  1967  $135.5  $485.3  
10  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs  1937  $184.9  $476.3  
11  Ben-Hur                          1959  $70.0   $470.6  
12  101 Dalmatians                   1961  $152.6  $459.8  
13  The Empire Strikes Back          1980  $290.2  $431.7 
14  Return of the Jedi               1983  $309.1  $413.8  
15  The Exorcist                     1973  $165.0  $412.0  
16  The Sting                        1973  $159.6  $398.6  
17  Raiders of the Lost Ark          1981  $242.4  $381.0  
18  Jurassic Park                    1993  $356.8  $376.7  
19  The Graduate                     1967  $104.4  $373.9  
20  Fantasia                         1940  $76.4   $362.9  
21  The Godfather                    1972  $134.8  $347.2  
22  Forrest Gump                     1994  $329.7  $344.7  
23  Mary Poppins                     1964  $86.0   $341.7  
24  The Lion King                    1994  $312.9  $327.1  
25  Close Encounters...Third Kind    1977  $166.0  $325.3 
26  Sleeping Beauty                  1959  $51.6   $317.6  
27  Grease                           1978  $181.5  $314.3  
28  Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid 1969  $102.3  $308.3  
29  Bambi                            1942  $102.8  $307.7  
30  Independence Day                 1996  $306.1  $306.1  
31  Love Story                       1970  $106.4  $305.9  
32  Beverly Hills Cop                1984  $234.8  $305.3  
33  Pinocchio                        1940  $84.3   $294.6  
34  Home Alone                       1990  $285.0  $294.4  
35  Cleopatra                        1963  $57.8   $293.6  
36  Airport                          1970  $100.5  $288.9  
37  Ghostbusters                     1984  $220.9  $287.2  
38  American Graffiti                1973  $115.0  $287.2  
39  The Robe                         1953  $36.0   $286.0  
40  Around the World in 80 Days      1956  $42.0   $282.4  
41  Blazing Saddles                  1974  $119.5  $276.3  
42  Batman                           1989  $251.2  $275.1  
43  The Bells of St. Mary's          1945  $21.3   $274.2  
44  The Towering Inferno             1974  $116.0  $268.2  
45  National Lampoon's Animal House  1978  $141.6  $264.4  
46  The Greatest Show on Earth       1952  $36.0   $262.2  
47  My Fair Lady                     1964  $72.0   $262.2  
48  Let's Make Love                  1960  $44.8   $261.3  
49  Back to the Future               1985  $210.7  $259.3  
50  Superman                         1978  $134.2  $250.1  
51  Men In Black                     1997  $250.1  $250.1  
52  Smokey and the Bandit            1977  $126.7  $248.4  
53  Tootsie                          1982  $177.2  $245.8  
54  West Side Story                  1961  $43.7   $244.6  
55  Lady and the Tramp               1955  $93.6   $243.6  
56  Twister                          1996  $241.7  $241.7  
57  Rocky                            1976  $117.2  $240.2  
58  The Best Years of Our Lives      1946  $23.7   $240.4  
59  The Poseidon Adventure           1972  $93.3   $239.9  
60  The Bridge on the River Kwai     1957  $27.2   $237.7  
61  Its' a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World  1963  $46.3   $235.4  
62  Swiss Family Robinson            1960  $40.4   $235.1  
63  Over the Cuckoo's Nest           1975  $109.0  $234.6  
64  MASH                             1970  $81.6   $234.6  
65  Indiana Jones...Temple of Doom   1984  $179.9  $233.9  
66  Mrs. Doubtfire                   1993  $219.2  $231.4  
67  The Lost World                   1997  $229.1  $229.1  
68  Aladdin                          1992  $217.0  $228.5  
69  Ghost                            1990  $217.6  $224.8  
70  Duel in the Sun                  1946  $20.4   $223.0  
71  House of Wax                     1953  $23.8   $220.8  
72  Rear Window                      1954  $24.5   $218.8  
73  Indiana Jones...Last Crusade     1989  $197.2  $216.0  
74  Terminator 2                     1991  $204.4  $212.2  
75  Sergeant York                    1941  $16.4   $210.3  
76  Top Gun                          1986  $176.8  $208.2  
77  Crocodile Dundee                 1986  $174.6  $205.7  
78  Armageddon                       2000  $201.6  $201.6  
79  Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse  1921  $9.2    $200.7  
80  Young Frankenstein               1974  $86.3   $199.5  
81  Peter Pan                        1953  $87.4   $199.4  
82  Every Which Way But Loose        1978  $105.9  $197.8  
83  Funny Girl                       1968  $58.5   $196.7  
84  The Caine Mutiny                 1954  $21.8   $194.0  
85  The Fugitive                     1993  $183.8  $194.0  
86  Gremlins                         1984  $148.2  $192.7  
87  Toy Story                        1995  $191.8  $192.7  
88  Jaws 2                           1978  $102.9  $192.2  
89  Saving Private Ryan              2000  $191.0  $191.0  
90  2001: A Space Odyssey            1968  $56.7   $190.7  
91  Guess Who's Coming to Dinner     1968  $56.7   $190.5  
92  Dances With Wolves               1990  $184.0  $190.1  
93  Kramer vs. Kramer                1979  $106.3  $188.0  
94  Three Men and a Baby             1987  $167.8  $187.5  
95  Psycho                           1960  $32.0   $186.5  
96  Rambo: First Blood Part 2        1985  $150.4  $185.2  
97  Batman Forever                   1995  $184.0  $184.8  
98  Pretty Woman                     1990  $178.4  $184.3  
99  Earthquake                       1974  $79.7   $184.2  
100  Rain Man                        1988  $172.1  $183.0