“Deathly Hallows – Part 2” the one magical movie in otherwise horrible year at the box office

by · December 24, 2011

According to E! Online, Hollywood has suffered one of its worst years at the box office in recent memory! Of course the one bright spot, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, became the world’s third-highest grossing movie of all-time with over $1.3 billion. The other billion dollar club movies this year were Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

So where were the big failures of this past year? Well, one of the biggest disappointments in 2011 was the animated movies, which in past years have done quite well at the box office. Only five animated films broke $100 million and none eclipsed the $200 million mark in domestic sales. Compared to 2010, when five animated films topped the $200 million mark, led by Toy Story 3.

Of 2011’s most notable disappointments was the animated film Mars Needs Moms, which grossed less than $40 million worldwide and cost over $190 million to produce (according to BoxOfficeMojo.com numbers).

If you take away the success of Deathly Hallows – Part 2, with it’s $381 million domestically, the industry would have suffered its worst year in five years.

Here are the year’s top movies (domestic gross only according to BoxOfficeMojo.com):

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – $381 million
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $352.4 million
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 – $268.2 million
The Hangover Part II – $254.5 million
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – $241.1 million
Fast Five – $209.8 million
Cars 2 – $191.5 million
Thor – $181 million
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – $176.7 million
Captain America: The First Avenger – $176.65 million

What do you think will happen at the box office in 2012 with no more Harry Potter films?