Variety reports that the May ‘08 box office may meet or exceed last year’s box office even without the franchises of “Spiderman”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and “Shrek”.

Last year, no studio wanted to be in the path of the three heavyweights — which each grossed north of $300 million domestically — so they saved their summer fare for June and beyond.

Next month, the big player films include: Paramount’s “Iron Man” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, Warner Bros. “Speed Racer”, Disney’s “Prince Caspian”, and Sony’s “Sex and the City”. Although most of these are new and untested properties, there are a few franchises like the Chronicles of Narnia and Indiana Jones that could prove to have large box office takes. According to one distributor, May is a big month for studios because it’s the beginning of summer.

“Without great openings in May, the rest of the summer is typically softer. The more people who see trailers in May for movies that open in June, July and August, the better off the summer is.”

None of these will most likely have the intake that last year’s blockbuster franchises did, however, studios are betting that they’re solid enough that combined they will perform solidly.