People love going to the movies and nothing is stopping them. When television debuted movie studios and theaters feared the game was over, however the big silver screen didn’t lose any steam and revenues and attendances got healthy. Coming up with a great movie idea and getting people to pay to see it has been a challenge. All sorts of gimmicks have been used and to good use too. A great story, fine acting, doesn’t mean a movie will make it to the big screen. There’s lots of shlock that has made a good penny too. Here’s a list of the top ten highest grossing Hollywood films.
See Also: Most Expensive Movies
10 – Toy Story 3 – $1.063 billion.
Ever the delightful and endearing movies, the Toy Story franchise is one of the most beloved in cinema history. The story of a group of toys and their devotion to their owner Andy has thrilled and tickled audiences for years now. Originally innovative because of the CGI approach to the animation, the story and characters have transcended that novelty to become beloved characters and properties none the less. This third installment sees some changes in evolution of the characters and their relationship to Andy but audiences loved it and it made a ton of money.
9 – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $1.066 billion.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise is one of the most successful in cinema history. It made money by default and for good reason. It has an interesting story, brilliant characters and awesome costumes and special effects. This particular sequel brought in over a billion dollars worldwide and that ain’t hay. Add to that DVDs, rentals, and merchandise and you’re talking a lot of pirate booty for sure.
8 – The Dark Knight Rises – $1.081 billion.
Hollywood was in shock when this Batman sequel made it to the top 3 spot of all time movies. It hauled in over a billion bucks worldwide and cemented the importance of the superhero genre. No one ever thought a superhero based movie, especially Batman would haul in so much money. That being said it allowed the green lighting of more superhero movies and a new genre setting light for more like movies to come.
7 – Skyfall – $1.108 billion.
007 does it again but this time eclipsing anything ever done in the franchise. No one expected a Bond movie to garner this much praise and box office loot. It took Hollywood by surprise and cements more Bond movies to come in the years following. It literally saved the James Bond franchise and made it’s star an even bigger star. There’s no telling what will come from future Bond movies but the producers sure have enough money and clout to make lots of them from now on.
6 – The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King – $1.119 billion.
When a movie brings in this much money everyone in the world takes notice. The Peter Jackson trilogy is one of the most successful in film history and the haul this particular movie brought in proves it. It is the third in the trilogy so people flocked to see it. Awesome design, special effects and more justified the cost and considering what it made in rentals and DVD the treasure was even greater.
5 – Transformers: Dark Of The Moon – $1.123 billion.
Giant alien robots that disguise themselves as cars and planes and trucks battling it out on Earth is what the Transformer franchise is all about and it is one of the most successful franchises in history. The action, special effects, comedy and characters brought in over $1.1 billion which for a movie based on toys sure scared the heck out of Hollywood when it took over the #5 mark for box office wealth. Don’t even try to imagine what the toy merchandise and DVDs and rentals brought in. That number would probably boggle the mind.
4 – Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – $1.328 billion.
Harry Potter is living gold. No matter where the property emerges there is money to be had. It makes money even after the book and film series has ended and it makes it by the boat load. This particular one brought in so much money that even Hollywood was stunned. Just about everyone knew it would make a killing but $1.3 billion is astonishing no matter what.
3 – The Avengers – $1.511 billion.
One of the biggest surprises in motion picture history occurred when this Marvel Comics franchise flick reached unprecedented box office status for a comic book based movie. Whereas Batman: The Dark Knight Rises cemented the comic book superhero genre far more than any other for Hollywood box office power, The Avengers blew the roof off the sucker. With a $1.5 billion worldwide haul there will now be no stopping comic book movies. They’re making so much money that The Avengers alone saved its new parent company Disney’s butt for fiscal 2012. It’s safe to say we’ll be seeing superheroes for a long time to come and it’s only the tip of the iceberg.
2 – Titanic – $2.1 billion.
The biggest tearjerker movie in history brought in so much money it had investors and the public with their tongues hanging out. People couldn’t believe a movie about a boat accident 100 years ago could be a box office hit of this magnitude but they were wrong. It brought in over $2.1 billion and that’s for starters. The song, DVDs, rentals are still making money, more so than most movies alive at the box office.
1 – Avatar – $ 2.7 billion.
The king of box office money hauls still stands at #1 and many are wondering if James Cameron can beat his own record. Some say it can’t be done but who knows, he’s done it already. Needless to say people wondered what this movie was about but as soon as the special effects, the 3D, the hoopla hit theaters this flick was destined for the top spot.