Biggest movies at the box office in 2010
The following movies raked in the biggest box office figures of 2010, according to BoxOfficeMojo.
10. Karate Kid – $176.6 million
9. How to Train Your Dragon – $217.6 million
8. Shrek Forever After – $238.4 million
7. Despicable Me – $250.9 million
6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – $275.8 million
5. Inception – $292.5 million
4. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Part 1 – $300.5 million
3. Iron Man 2 – $312.1 million
2. Alice in Wonderland – $334.2 million
1. Toy Story 3 – $415 million
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14 comments Add your comment
Jennifer
December 31st, 2010
11:46 am
i think it’s amazing that in spite of all the hoopla with “adult” (e.g. PG-13 and up) movies throughout 2010–which many were good!–roughly 1/2 of this list was dedicted to the G and PG genre. essentially what’s meant for the kiddies, adults took it to be just as great as well. i absolutely am all about G and PG movies. nothing like good clean fun. granted, even Disney has amped up their “innocent” G movies to something to be enjoyed (and generally better understood) by adults. i didn’t care what “critics” thought of Iron Man 2, i LOVED it (of course, seeing Robert Downey Jr helped quite a bit), but the next best is in fact truly the #1, Toy Story 3. i don’t tire of Woody & Buzz Lightyear. i’m very curious to see what 2011 has in store…bring it on!!
Rex D
January 1st, 2011
12:33 am
First of all, it’s hard to believe that this article only rendered one reaction from the on-line reading audience all day. It’s now January 1st. Come on people – where are you!? . . . Anyway, I agree with Jennifer, it’s very interesting to see so many kids films at the top, when the theaters are generally dominated by PG-13 and R movies . . . I would imagine we’ll see more kids films in the future! . . . Money talks!
red hill
January 1st, 2011
12:58 am
I think it is also interesting that half of the top 10 movies are in 3D. The new generation of 3D movies is certainly a quantum leap from the older 3D movies (Jaws 3D, for example, ugh). I think some of the better dramas suffer a bit at the box office as people (like myself) will wait for it on DVD or premium TV channels rather than forking out the bucks to see it at a theater. One can wait and buy a new release DVD for what one can pay to see it at most venues. Anyhow, it will be interesting to see which of these movies (if any) are up for Oscars.
Highlander
January 1st, 2011
6:18 am
There’s a fairly simple answer as to why these G and PG movies do well at the box office. Couples will go too see these movies (as well as the R-rated ones) but, more importantly, FAMILIES go to the G and PG ones. And that drastically raises your potential audience!
Another interesting point might be to compare how much it cost to make these same movies with their box office receipts and see who really came out on top.
If the list were ranked that way, I think ‘Inception’ might fall out of the Top 10.
Eric
January 1st, 2011
9:57 am
The only movie I saw in this list was Iron Man 2. Does the blogger that transcribed these box office totals want to hire an editor or at least a proofreader?!? If so, I’m available. The Twilight Sage?!? Seriously?!?
Bob
January 1st, 2011
10:16 am
Highlander is right. Red hill also raises a good point, though I think it goes beyond that.
Many folks over the age of 25 have no desire to endure the ordeal that the modern movie theater has become to see PG-13/R movies. The audiences behave worse than children. So other than taking the kids to see a good G/PG, I’ll just wait till I can watch it at home, one way or another.
Happy New Year
kevin
January 1st, 2011
11:30 am
another little tidbit: rented movies look better on the big flat screen i have at home than they do on the theatre screens. Saw True Grit last week at Phipps and i’m certain it will look even better at home.
Chris
January 1st, 2011
7:01 pm
I’m with you Kevin… I watched Tron last weekend and the whole time I couldn’t help but think “Man, this i going to look so much better at home on Bluray.” Movie theaters are too expensive. Between Bluray, Netflix, and Redbox, you can watch movies with better picture and sound at home nowadays then you can at the theater. We usually reserve our theater going for the big special effect films (Tron, Harry Potter, etc..) because we want to see them on the huge screen. G/PG movies do really well because families go to see them. That means more tickets sold. Besides box office sales does not mean the film was actually good. Transformers 2 is proof of that.
Oh good grief
January 1st, 2011
7:19 pm
I liked Transformers 2.
Inception was the best movie on the list. All of them could have waited for the dvd player, though.
Iron Man not #1? Big deal
January 1st, 2011
7:27 pm
The Top 10 is exactly how I would have expected it to look. No surprise at all.
Iron Man not #1? Big deal
January 1st, 2011
7:31 pm
Highlander-exactly. Although I did go see The Princess and the Frog twice without the kids. :embarrassed:
By the time your kid is old enough to see Harry Potter, Iron Man or Twilight on their own, they usually don’t want the parents following in tow.
me
January 1st, 2011
7:59 pm
i can not believe a cheesy remake of Karate Kid made that much money.
Patrick
January 3rd, 2011
10:25 am
Besides looking at how much it cost to make these movies, versus how much they made, also need to look at how much was spent marketing them. Iron Man 2, for example, had all sorts of TV ads both directly promoting the movie and also promoting tie-ins like cellphones. Inception had very little TV advertising that I can recall.
DVD/Bluray sales should also be considered.
And the one thing that needs to be never forgotten is that almost no movie ever “makes” money. Hollywood accounting is famous for making sure no movie, no matter the box office, never makes any profit. Even a movie like Avatar, brining in over $1bn, is considered to have lost money.
Serious Question
January 3rd, 2011
12:04 pm
Patrick: if I spent $150 million on a film, and it grosses $1 billion, how is that not turning a profit?