Now that nothing is moving up and down anymore and everything is finally in place we can take a final (we not really, you’ll see soon) look at 2010, more specifically the 10 highest grossing 2010 released movies in North America, after the break.
10. Tangled $193.4 million
What is that you say, a mistake? How can an animated Disney movie not made by Pixar be in a top 10, why you would have to go all the way to 1999 to see another such feat. Tarzan with $171 million was 6th that year. Well no mistakes here, Tangled is the hit Disney waited a decade to come.
9. How to Train Your Dragon $217.5 million
Ok, quick reminder here, action + animation – talking animals = bad box office prospects. Well obviously since this is in 9th place you can guess we have right here the exception to that rule not to mention it got a frigging Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. DreamWorks are moving forward with a sequel scheduled for 2013.
8. Shrek Forever After $238.7 million
The final chapter in the Shrek saga is also the worst box office performer but all is good for DreamWorks because as one falls (Shrek), another will rise (Dragon). Now don’t get me wrong, $238 million is still a lot of money but coming from a series that peaked at $441.2 million in 2004 with Shrek 2, it looks like this ogre is starting to run on fumes.
7. Despicable Me $251.5 million
Ok, notice a trend going on here? Let me see, animated, animated, animated and animated, yeap, definitely something is going on here. Basically Despicable Me performed beyond even the most wild expectations and to make things even more impressive, this was the first animated feature for studio Illumination Entertainment. Best of all, it only cost $69 million (a fraction of the normal cost of this movies), obviously a sequel is already in production.
6. Inception $292.5 million
Hail to the king baby, Nolan somehow managed to do it again. This and Despicable Me are the only original works found in this top 10, everything else is either a sequel or adapted from something so give it up once again for Chris Nolan cause he really is the man. He had the guts to take his dream project and make it into a $200 million epic (props to Warner also because it takes a lot of confidence in a man to finance this kind of thing) without sacrificing nothing of his vision while also making it a huge commercial hit. Anyone else might have tried to dumb this down but not Nolan, nope, not Nolan.
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 $293.4 million
The 7th in the Harry Potter series exactly in line with what we have come to expect from this already historical box office performing franchise. Next summer the final chapter will go for the Potter record ($317.5 million) with the help of 3D.
4. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse $300.5 million
Ok, I have to hand it to the vampire soap opera, it finally managed to beat Harry Potter (but only in North America). Also in the tradition of Harry Potter the final chapter of this series will be split in 2 parts, first one coming in November.
3. Iron Man 2 $312.4 million
Don’t know about you guys but I was expecting more from this, at least more then what Iron Man made in 2008 ($318.4 million). I mean everything was in place but it just forgot to click. So, can the 3rd make more or is this the best we’ll ever see from Iron Man, The Avengers will tell us in 2012.
2. Alice in Wonderland $334.1 million
In 2005 Warner released Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to $206.4 million. Alice in Wonderland comes from the same Tim Burton – Johnny Depp collaboration this time with Disney behind it. A year ago I could not picture this making Charlie and the Chocolate Factory numbers and look at it now. But this is nothing, wait until you see the worldwide numbers.
1. Toy Story 3 $415 million
What a wonderful history this series has, Toy Story back in 1995 was the first feature film for Pixar and it made $191.7 million. I was 8 years old when I first saw it in a theater with my class, I remember like it was yesterday. Back then it was something to behold, unlike anything I had ever seen. Toy Story was the highest grossing movie of 1995. Forward to 1999 and Toy Story 2 is released to even more success, $245.8 million, enough for 3rd that year. 11 years later and a total of 15 years since Pixar started this series, Toy Story 3 is out finishing one of the most beautiful and loved stories of all time with the success it deserved. While it took Pixar 15 years to get back on top at the box office, they have always been number 1 when it comes to quality animation.
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