20 Top Grossing Movies of 2012: THR Year in Review

The Avengers

Worldwide Gross: $1.51 billion

The ensemble pic that brought together some of the most popular superheroes in film today is the big box office winner of 2012. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Chris Evans as Captain America and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Avengers is the No. 3 film of all time behind Avatar ($2.8 billion) and Titanic ($2.2 billion), both from James Cameron.

The Dark Knight Rises

Worldwide Gross: $1.08 billion

Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises grossed $448 million domestically and $632 million overseas. Dark Knight Rises did more business overseas, and less domestically, than The Dark Knight, which grossed $533 million in North America and $469.7 million internationally.

Skyfall

Worldwide Gross: $978 million (as of Dec. 28)

Daniel Craig's third turn as 007 is a critical and box office success, raking in $283.7 million in North America through Dec. 28 (it even returned to the top of the charts during its fifth week of release). In the U.K., Skyfall became the top grossing film of all time, surpassing Avatar, which previously held that title.

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Ice Age: Continental Drift

Worldwide Gross: $875.0 million

Twentieth Century Fox's Ice Age: Continental Drift had a strong start at the international box office, earning $11 million in only two days from 12 markets, including strong performances across Latin America and in France. The 3D animated pic, which was the fourth in the Ice Age franchise, was an international blockbuster, grossing $714 million abroad and $161 million domestically.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Worldwide Gross: $778.2 million

The final film in the Twilight franchise pushed Lionsgate past the $1 billion mark at the domestic box office in a single calendar year. Internationally, the film starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, had a debut gross of $199.8 million – the biggest offshore opening launch of the year at that time.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Worldwide Gross: $752.2 million

Marc Webb's reboot of the Spider-Man story starred Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and Emma Stone as Parker's first love interest, Gwen Stacy. After a strong showing at the box office, it's been announced that Webb and Garfield will return for a sequel, which will begin shooting in early 2013.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Want

Worldwide Gross: $742 million

DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted claimed the No. 1 offshore box office spot for its first two weeks in a row, putting the overseas gross total accumulated by the second sequel in the animation franchise at $158.4 million. It also opened No. 1 domestically, overperforming wiith a stand-out $60.4 million opening.

The Hunger Games

Worldwide Gross: $686.5 million

The first film adapted from the popular YA books stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, the young heroine who is forced to compete in a fight-to-the-death competition in a dystopian North America. Domestically, the pic, opening to $152.5 million during the weekend, shattered a number of records in scoring the third-highest debut of all time behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.2 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million), as well as the top opening outside of summer and the top opening for a nonsequel. On March 26, Lionsgate's film grossed $10.8 million on Monday -- the best showing ever for a Monday outside of holidays, the Christmas stretch and summer.

Men in Black 3

Worldwide Gross: $624 million

Men in Black 3, which stars Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, is the highest-grossing film in the franchise, eclipsing Men in Black II ($441.8 million globally) and Men in Black ($589.4 million).

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Worldwide Gross: $562.8 million (as of 12/28/12)

Peter Jackson's 3D fantasy-adventure, the first in a planned trilogy, is qiuckly moving up the 2012 box office chart. Rolling out in mid-December around the globe, the movie was produced and financed by New Line and MGM. Warner Bros., New Line's parent company, is distributing Hobbit.

Brave

Worldwide Gross: $535.3 million

Pixar's latest creation, Brave, follows princess Merida who defies the traditions of her Scottish kingdom. Domestically, Pixar's 13th film continued Pixar's unblemished record of opening its movies at No. 1 and also scored the second-highest June opening for an animated pic after Pixar's Toy Story 3 ($110.3 million). Overseas, the Disney/Pixar title debuted to $13.5 million in 10 markets.

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Ted

Worldwide Gross: $501.8 million

Universal's R-rated comedy about a man (Mark Wahlberg) and his B.F.F. bear (voiced by director Seth MacFarlane) surpassed The Hangover became the top-grossing original R-rated comedy of all time. Plans for a sequel are already underway.

The Intouchables

Worldwide Gross: $410.6

France's comedy-drama about the true-life and unlikely friendship between a disabled millionaire (Francois Cluzet) and an ex-con (Omar Sy) may have only netted $10 million in the U.S., but a record-breaking haul in its native country and strong showings in other markets made it a surprise hit.

Prometheus

Worldwide Gross: $402.5 million

Ridley Scott's highly anticipated sci-fi film starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba and Charlize Theron follows a crew on a spaceship looking for the origins of humanity. The film overperformed domestically its opening weekend, with $50 million, doing big returns for IMAX theaters. In North America, IMAX grosses from 294 theaters totaled $9.1 million.

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Snow White and the Huntsman

Worldwide Gross: $396.4 million

Starring Kristen Stewart as Snow White and Charlize Theron as the evil Queen, Snow White and the Huntsman proved to be the fairest of them all, topping the domestic box office its opening weekend with a better-than-expected $56.3 million and opening to $95.6 million worldwide. To date, it's brought in $241 million in foreign markets and $155 million domestically.

Taken 2

Worldwide Gross: $364.9 million

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) returned for a second installment to deal with all the men who were pissed off at him for killing those men who took his daughter in Taken. And just like its predeccessor, Taken 2 was a box office winner. The action pic from 20th Century Fox and EuropaCorp topped the North American box office with a record-breaking $50 million debut, more than double the original 2009 film.

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Worldwide Gross: $348.8 million

Universal and Illumination Entertainment's Dr. Seuss' The Lorax debuted to a staggering $70.2 million, marking one of the best openings for a non-sequel animated title. The 3D pic starring voice cast  Zac Efron, Danny DeVito and Ed Helms scored the fourth best opening ever for any Universal title.

Titanic 3D

Worldwide Gross: $343.6 million

Audiences didn't get enough of Jack Dawson (Leonardo DicCprio), Rose DeWitt Bukate (Kate Winslet) and that big sinking ship the first time around, because when the romantic drama hit theaters again in 2012, it became a box office monster, grossing $201.8 million worldwide in its first dozen days and pushing the movie's lifetime gross past $2 billion. The big numbers were fueled in large part by China, where Titanic 3D debuted to $67 million, the largest opening in history.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Worldwide Gross: $325.9

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released abroad before its U.S. debut, allowing it to soar internationally and easily surpass its predecessor's numbers at the box office. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson and Vanessa Hudgens, the film also surpassed its predecessor's domestic numbers, earning $103.8 million domestically to date.

Hotel Transylvania

Worldwide Gross: $305.7

3D toon Hotel Transylvania debuted to an estimated $43 million -- the top September bow ever. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, the film features a voice cast starring Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez and Kevin James and received an A- cinemascore in North America.