Monday, January 2, 2012

Harry Potter enchanted the domestic box office in 2011

With 2012 now upon us, it's time to look back at the top grossing films of 2011.

Although "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" ($141 million to date) and "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" ($136 million) have a shot of cracking the top 10, the following list is pretty solid.

Harry Potter ruled the box office one more time.
There aren't many surprises considering seven of the top 10 films are either sequels or new installments in existing franchises. The rest consist of a remake of a famous series and two comic book adaptations from Marvel.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" led the way in 2011 with $381 million at the domestic box office, good for number 13 on the all-time box office list (discounting inflation of course). Proving the decision to split the J.K. Rowling's seventh and final book into two movies was both a creative and financial success, the combined gross from both parts topped out at $676 million.

"Deathly Hallows Part 2" was the highest grossing film in the franchise both in the U.S. and overseas, carrying it on to a $1.3 billion worldwide total, making it the third highest grossing film in history behind James Cameron's "Avatar" and "Titanic."

Coming in second for the year was "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," grossing $352 million, the only other film of 2011 to break the $300 million mark. It's at 19 on the all-time domestic list, while it's $1.12 billion worldwide gross is good for number four behind "Deathly Hallows Part 2."

The "Twilight" franchise also decided to split it's final installment in two and the first part of "Breaking Dawn" came in at number three for the year with $276 million.



"The Hangover Part II" proved the success of the first film was not a fluke, cashing out $254 million for the year and a fourth place finish.

Although the initial domestic receipts for "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," the first film in the franchise not directed by Gore Verbinski, were disappointing compared to the earlier efforts, it did finish with $241 million domestically. More importantly, however, an incredible strong overseas showing propelled the film to $1.04 billion.

In sixth place was "Fast Five," which reinvigorated "The Fast and the Furious" franchise with $209 million.

Less successful was "Cars 2," which not only disappointed critics and audiences, both also presumably Pixar bosses, as it had to settle for $191 million. The only Pixar film to gross less was 1998's "A Bug's Life." In comparison, the original "Cars" captured $244 million in 2006.

In eighth place was Marvel's "Thor," grossing $181 million.

One of the biggest surprises of the year was the remake of "The Rise of the Planet of the Apes," which grossed $176 million and was one of the fall's few success stories.

Marvel rounded out the top 10 with "Captain America: The First Avenger," which earned $176 million.

Falling out of the list was "The Help," another fall surprise and potential Oscar winner. The film grossed $169 million, dominating the box office for almost a month, while numerous other films crashed and burned.

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