I know this is similar to the summer retrospective, but this should encompass the entire year and focuse on positive surprises and big disappointments only.

The summer is over and we've now got the fall and the holiday season at the box-office ahead of us. I'm sure that the upcoming months will bring a bunch of surprises with them too, but what does the picture look like so far?

The following lists will deal with the domestic box-office only.


Top 10 Biggest Success Stories of 2010


1. Despicable Me

This one really is THE big surprise of the year. Universal's first attempt at 3D computer animation turned out to be one of the year's HUGE hits. Who'd have thought that it'd go on to outgross Shrek Forever After?! Of course that's also due to Shrek really disappointing, but on the other hand it still does not diminish Despicable Me's performance at all. It was released not too long after Toy Story 3 which was still making $20+ million the weekend DM opened and it didn't even have a great 3D/2D ratio which makes the performance even more impressive. O top of that, thats an Universal film! Universal hasn't had a $200+ mllion grosser since The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007 and Despicable Me is already their 7th-biggest film ever with $241.9 million in the bag. It also looks to top $250 million eventually and become their 6th-biggest film. Keep in mind, barely anyone predicted more than 120 million for its totsal, a number that Despicable Me passed after 11 days in theatres. This is truly the most impressive box-office performance since Avatar!


2. Alice in Wonderland

Okay, most predictions put it at over $200 million, but I don't think anyone expected it to pass $300 million so easily, let alone be the #2 movie of the year even after the summer! Not to mention that it delivered the 6th-biggest opening weekend ever when it opened and topped Spider-Man after eight years as the biggest non-seque opener of all time. It also managed to get a great second-weekend hold, giving it the 5th-best 2nd weekend ever. These are truly impressive feats even if the film was an easier sell than most of us thought (in hindsight of course). It is currently the 20th-biggest film ever on the domesic charts and the 9th-biggest film that is not a sequel or a prequel. Its $334 million total speaks for itself.


3. The Karate Kid

Of course its overall performance is already impressive as it is looking at $177+ million on a $40 million budget. But what makes me place it so high is its absolutely mind-boggling $55.7 million opening. There were indications that the film would overperform, but certainly not to this degree.


4. How to Train Your Dragon

In contrast to the film above, Dragon's opening weekend was rather disappointing. Despite the 3D bonus, it didn't even manage to hit $45 million opening weekend. Monsters Vs. Aliens opened to $59.3 million with a similar release date a year earlier. What followed, however, was more than impressive. How to Train Your Dragon managed a terrific rebound and delivered terrific holds for the rest of its run, becoming Dreamworks' biggest non-Shrek animated film,e evn topping Kung Fu Panda. Its opening-to-total multiplier of almost 5 is simply amazing considering it is higher than the multipliers of all Pixar films except for the first Toy Story! Damn, it even had better legs than Finding Nemo and that without the help of summer weekdays! Keep in mind that other spring releases like Monsters Vs. Aliens, Horton Hears a Who and even Ice Age didn't even manage a multiplier of 4!


5. The Expendables

It might look a bit high to some of you, but I'd argue that it is just where it belongs. After four full weeks, this R-rated actioner stands at $95+ million and looks poised to top $105 million. Considering that Stallone's last $100+ million film (excluding Spy Kids 3D) was Rocky IV back in 1985 (!!) that is really impressive. Sure it boasts a great action cast, but one of these actors has been huge on their own in any recent time. Jason Statham's biggest leading role film until this one was Transporter 2 with $43 million. Jet Li's usualy box-office range is at around $40-50 million. What is even more shocking, though, is that it looks to end up with a surprisingly solid multiplier. Most expected the film to open well, but then crumble. However, it currently looks like it could eve get to the multiplier of 3!


6. Grown Ups

After the box-office disappointment that was Funny People, Sandler fully rebounded with Grown Ups. It has become Sandler's first film since 2005 to pass $150 million and it is actually on track to become Sandler's 2nd-biggest film ever, topping The Waterboy. Even more impressive, however, were its legs. Sandler's films are usually leggier than one would expect, but Grown Ups will approach the multiplier of 4 which is just terrific. Its multiplier is the best of all Sandler's $100+ million grossers, except for The Waterboy and that was back in 1998!


7. Inception

The film's performance is terific, but I sitll put it this low because it was mostly anticipated by the predictors around here. Many even thought it'd top Iron Man 2's total. While this won't happen, one can't deny the impressive performance that this movie had (and continues to have). It is even more impressive overseas than domestically, but the domestic run is one to behold as well. How many live action summer blockbusters do you known in recent years that got a multiplier of over 4.5 following a $60+ million opening? Not many, indeed. If anything about its run was underwhelming it was its opening weekend, but the legs made up for that. It looks to finish with $290+ million which nowadays is very impressive for a movie not based on any known material.


8. Shutter Island

In Shutter Island's case, its total gross was good, but not amazing. What was amazing,l though, was the fact that it managed to open to $40+ million despite being an R-rated thriller with a February release date. It became to movie to finally showcase the box-office drawing power of Martin Scorsese as a director and foreshadowed good things for Inception's performance.


9. Toy Story 3

Another predictable, yet undeniably impressive performance. Toy Story 3 easily topped Finding Nemo as Pixar's biggest film to date and comfortably placed itself as the #9 film of all-time. Once again, the overseas performance here is more impressive than the domestic one, but there's absolutely nothing to complain about in its domestic performance either.


10. Dear John

Like Shutter Island, the total gross is solid here, no more no less, but the $30+ million opening is still one of the more impressive opening weekends this year. A $30 million start for a low-key romantic drama with no huge draws is quite a feat.


Frankly, I think that it is much more difficult to find big surprising success stories this year so far than the big disappointments.


The disappointments list will be added here soon.

I expected to see The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo/The Girl Who Played with Fire combo considering you made this list. Certainly a great performance for foreign movies and R rated too! They didn't set BO or OW on fire, but I find them more impressive than Dear John.

I considered that (especially the first film), but decided to only have films on the list that were in wide release at least at some point.

Though it rarely goes more wideer than this for foreign/documentary films...

Ensembles really seem to be the huge trend right now for success:

Grown Ups: Ensemble of comedy stars: $160 m
Valentine's Day: Ensemble of romcom stars: $56 m/$110 m
The Expendables: Ensemble of action stars: $100 m +
Toy Story/many other animated movies: Ensemble of stars
Takers: Ensemble of stars

I think the ensemble trend's next biggest benefactor is Scream 4. With a horror ensemble lined up, it could do $150 m + imo...

Tyler Perry's next has built up a big cast that could really overperform as well.

Burlesque is a musical ensemble, but that could either be really big, or really, really bad.

Then there's How do you know? and Little Fockers that will probably do huge business.

Also wanted to give credit to "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." $22 m opening against $34 m weekend of Alice, and a $64 m total, with just a $15 m budget. Definitely a modest success as well!

I also think The Last Airbender is a big success for the year as well. It had terrible wom, terrible reviews, and was expected to have a very quick run. Managing $131 m was huge imo.

Salt also was a big success as well. Many people lowered their expectations for it being so close to Inception. For Salt to approach $120 m in Inception's shadow was a huge accomplishment!

???? I think $100m is tops for Scream 4. And that's only if it delivers in terms of quality so it doesn't crash and burn after OW. I liked Scream 3 a lot, but there's no denying it had very very bad WOM.

There have been ALOT of bad horror films over the past few years, and moviegoers like the tried and true. Scream also has a lot of nostalgia that will pull in younger and older audiences imo. $100 m tops is REALLY low for this.

Horror nostalgia can only go so much. Just look at the recent remakes of popular horror icons. It's not like they set the BO on fire.

Previous Screams still hold the top of the slasher genre in terms of BO. Scream 4 needs to be just as good as Scream 1 and Scream 2 to have a legitimate shot at $150m.

Also it's not like Scream movies didn't feature stars before. If anything those were always slashers filled with famous people.

Well Courtney Cox was always in a top 4 and in some cases #1 tv show, and Neve Cambell was in a popular show with younger crowds. The scream films were usually at least a caliber of A list or B list actors in a film, thats one of the big things that always was appealing to horror films, get actors instead of unknowns and you already have something. But I digress.

The difference between scream and the others, Scream 3 didn't ever kill the franchise, it was a B- minus for the franchise, and it still adjusts to well over 100 million. Jason, Mike Meyers, and Freddy all were dead franchises dragged through the dirt, and needed reboots to sell as a ploy trying to tell audiences, this is a cooler new look at something you used to laugh at. A 10 year wait, and the better marketing of this generation we have a potential 50+ opener, I'd be very surprised is Scream 4 fell below 100 million.

Well, it's not a new trend. Think Wild Hogs, He's Just Not That Into You, Couples Retreat, Ocean's Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen...

Exactly, in the 90s when star power was much more prominent, it was Two Actors together that meant good numbers (Heat, Conspiracy Theory, Basic Instinct, Disclosure, Maverick, Meet the Parents, etc) Now that star power is not at its heights anymore, ensemble acting or more actors together has taken its place.

How I would rank it:

1. Despicable Me
2. How to Train Your Dragon
3. Alice in Wonderland
4. Toy Story 3
5. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
6. Inception
7. The Karate Kid
8. Grown Ups
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
10. Shutter Island

Both Toy Story and Expendables not on the list.

My top 10:
1. Despicable Me
2. Alice in Wonderland
3. The Karate Kid
4. Inception
5. Grown Ups
6. How to Train Your Dragon (legs, total not so much)
7. Shutter Island
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
9. Dear John
10. Nothing

Runner Ups: Last Airbender, Valentine's Day 3 openers weekend, Juliet/Last Song

Disappointments are easier since so many did this year:

1. Iron Man 2
2. Sex and the City 2
3. Toy Story 3
4. Prince of Persia
5. Date Night
6. A-Team
7. The Losers
8. Killers
9. Knight & Day
10. Sorcerer's Apprentice

Runner Ups: Edge of Darkness, Green Zone, Kick Ass, Scott Pilgrim, Death at a Funeral, Marmaduke

Most expected performers:

1. Twilight Saga: Eclipse
2. Robin Hood
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street
4. Valentine's Day (even worse legs than I thought though)
5. Predators

Other notable mentions:

-Jonah Hex bombed even worse, barely making 10m when I thought 15m was assured.
-January's immense mehness from Leap Year to When in Rome save Legion and TF's recovery
-Salt & Other Guys being considered top performers when they just did below average in a normal summer (not filled with disappointments and flops)
-Why do people still watch shit like Vampires Suck?

How Could you say Toy Story 3 disapointed?? You are nuts no way could it have made 500 million like you were thinking. The second film made 250 adjusted for inflation that would be like 350 so it did what it should have.

KILLERS really didn't disappoint, IMO. It wasn't a surprise success or a disappointment. Just kind of expected.

Then what was The Tale of Despereaux? Attempt Zero?

That was not in 3D, just CG animated. I did not forget it.

It didn't beat Shrek 2 unadjusted. It didn't beat Nemo adjusted. It didn't beat Shrek 3 OW unadjusted. It didn't beat Shrek 2 OW adjusted.

I don't get all this BS spin by the forums on why it's not disappointing. It was the king of CGI features yet it performed well below expectations. Don't say that CGI hit it's peak in 2004 because if you looked at Shrek 3, all it had to do was be good and it would've come close or beaten Shrek 2. It's legs were terrible. Oh, and that was without the 3D surcharge.

The entire generation argument failed. It had more of an audience like Shrek 2 yet came nowhere close. Do remember Shrek 2 had a lot of teenage/young adult support which was supposed to be present here or that even if it was, as people have noted audiences skewed older than previous Pixar movies, yet, it had no effect. Did the kids not turn up? They didn't know who Buzz and Woody are? Too dark? I don't know but with the huge support it sure didn't set the BO on fire especially taking into account the 3D surcharge.

Hell, you're saying that if TS2 adjusts to 350m, you add in the surcharge probably takes it up to near 400m meaning that it had no growth between TS2 and 3 after 11 years? Pathetic would be the word to describe it. Look at Mexico or UK or other places where it certainly showed that there were more people seeing it who were not kids.

Eh, The Karate Kid's huge success is way more srprising than that of Toy Story 3 which was predicted by most here to gross around $400 million.

That's ridiculous. TS3 a bigger disappointment than Prince of Persia and Knight & Day? Ridiculous.

1. Despicable Me
2. Alice in Wonderland
3. How to Train Your Dragon
4. The Karate Kid
5. Inception
6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
7. Shutter Island
8. Grown Ups
9. Toy Story 3
10. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

When you say "first attempt" it sounds as if it's their first film. Uni tries hard to paint it as their first entry into animation and huge success right away. But before that there was Despereaux, which failed, and we should not forget about that.
Especially considering the 3D portion was very low for DM, there's no point in emphasizing it was in 3D, because 3D didn't do much for DM's success. Without 3D it would have done the same.

My list based more on success story criteria more than surprise. Otherwise Inception will be on my disappointments list instead. Also Karate Kid's legs was pretty poor, after opening weekend it did below what everyone thought based on opening weekend.

No it didn't. It is the highest grossing Pixar movie by a fare amount. Don't blame the movie for not meeting your ridiculously high expectations.