Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Top Ten Box-Office Hits Of 2008

Top Ten Box-Office Hits Of 2008

The end of the year is nigh, and with it comes every movie blogger and reviewers list of their favorite films of 2008. But really, at the end of the day, while critical acclaim is nice, a movie’s success can only really be based on whether it made any money or not, and if it did, how much.

Dark Horizons lists the top ten box-office hits both stateside and worldwide. Both lists show the usual suspects we’d all expected to be there, and both lists match up pretty well. However, there are some interesting diversities and number-crunching matters going on under the surface.

2008 U.S. Domestic Box-Office Top Ten

1. The Dark Knight - $530.9 million
5. Iron Man - $318.3 million
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $317.0 million
4. Hancock - $227.9 million
8. WALL-E - $223.8 million
3. Kung Fu Panda - $215.4 million
9. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - $174.9 million
6. Twilight - $167.3 million
7. Quantum of Solace - $164.3 million
10. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! - $154.5 million

2008 Worldwide Box-Office Top Ten

1. The Dark Knight - $996.9 million
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $786.6 million
3. Kung Fu Panda - $631.9 million
4. Hancock - $624.4 million
5. Iron Man - $581.9 million
6. Mamma Mia! - $572.2 million
7. Quantum of Solace - $537.1 million
8. WALL-E - $507.3 million
9. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - $457.2 million
10. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - $419.6 million

The Dark Knight was always going to top a list of earners, and it does so twice over. This shows how huge Batman and comic book heroes in general are around the world. Indiana Jones also did spectacularly well despite not exactly a fan favorite. I must admit I really liked the spectacle, and if you go back and watch the original trilogy you’ll realize they actually aren’t all that great.

It’s interesting to note that both Mamma Mia and Quantum of Solace did much better outside of the States than in it. While films such as Iron Man and Hancock truly have universal appeal. It may be wrong to look at films in terms of money but that is what pays the studios bills and ensures new releases every year after all.

No comments:

Post a Comment