subject: 10 Top Grossing Films [print this page] Author: albert Author: albert
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) New Line Cinema $925,282,504 2002 fantasy-adventure film directed by Peter Jackson based on the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is the second film in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy that was preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and concluded with The Return of the King (2003). The movie was critically acclaimed, although the adaptation was more controversial than the first film. It was an enormous box-office success, earning over $900 million worldwide, outgrossing its predecessor, and is currently the 9th top-grossing film of all time (inflation-adjusted, it is the 14th most successful film in North America). 9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) Warner Bros. $929,359,401 2009 2009 fantasy-adventure film based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth film in the Harry Potter film series. It is directed by David Yates, the director of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. David Heyman and David Barron produced the film,and the screenplay was written by Steve Kloves, the screenwriter of the first four films. 8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) Warner Bros. $938,212,738 2007 2007 fantasy-adventure film, based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. Directed by David Yates, produced by David Heyman's company Heyday Films, and written by Michael Goldenberg, it is the fifth film in the popular Harry Potter film series. The story follows Harry Potter in his fifth year at the magic school Hogwarts. The Ministry of Magic refuses to believe the return of Lord Voldemort and appoints bureaucrat Dolores Umbridge as a teacher at the school. 7. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) Walt Disney Pictures $960,996,492 2007 adventure film, the third film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. The plot follows Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner and the crew of the Black Pearl rescuing Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), from Davy Jones's Locker, and then preparing to fight the East India Trading Company, led by Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), who plan to extinguish piracy. Gore Verbinski directed the film, as he did with the previous two. Critical reviews were mixed, but At World's End was a box office hit, becoming the most successful film of 2007, grossing approximately $960 million worldwide, and making it the second most successful in the series, behind Dead Man's Chest. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Makeup and the Academy Award for Visual Effects. 6. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) Warner Bros. $974,733,550 2001 fantasy-adventure film based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. Directed by Chris Columbus, it is the first in the popular Harry Potter films series. The story follows Harry Potter, a boy who discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard, and is sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his magical education. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The adult cast features Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman and Ian Hart. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British or Irish, in keeping with the cultural integrity of the book and the film. Rowling also approved the screenplay, written by Steve Kloves. Along with mostly positive critical reception, it made in excess of $976 million at the worldwide box office, received three Academy Award nominations and is the sixth top grossing movie of all-time. 5. The Dark Knight Warner Bros. (2008) $1,001,921,825 2008 superhero crime thriller film directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins. Christian Bale reprises the lead role. The film follows Bruce Wayne/Batman (Bale), District Attorney Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart), Assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and Police Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and their struggles and journey in combating the new rising threat of a criminal who goes by the name of the "Joker" (Heath Ledger). Nolan's inspiration for the film was the Joker's comic book debut in 1940, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold Two-Face's origin. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Nolan used an IMAX camera to film some sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film. 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) Walt Disney Pictures $1,066,179,725 2006 American adventure film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the sequel to the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and the first film from Walt Disney Pictures to feature the current logo (even though the trailer and commercials of the movie showed one of the two previous logos). The film was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The movie received 4 Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and won the Academy Award for Visual Effects. The story picks up from where the first film left off when Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) discovers his debt to the villainous Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is due, while Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) are arrested by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) for helping Jack Sparrow escape execution. 3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) New Line Cinema $1,119,219,252 As Sauron launches the final stages of his conquest of Middle-earth, Gandalf the Wizard, and Thoden King of Rohan rally their forces to help defend Gondor's capital Minas Tirith from the looming threat. Aragorn finally claims the throne of Gondor and summons an army of ghosts to help him defeat Sauron. Ultimately, even with full strength of arms, they realize they cannot win; so it comes down to the Hobbits, Frodo and Sam, to bear the burden of the Ring and deal with the treachery of Gollum. After a long journey they finally arrive in the dangerous lands of Mordor, seeking to 2. Avatar (2009) 20th Century Fox $1,335,040,297 American science fiction epic film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang. The film is set in the year 2154 on Pandora, a moon in the Alpha Centauri star system. Humans are engaged in mining Pandora's reserves of a precious mineral, while the Na'via race of indigenous humanoidsresist the colonists' expansion, which threatens the continued existence of the Na'vi and the Pandoran ecosystem. The film's title refers to the genetically engineered bodies used by the film's characters to interact with the Na'vi. The film opened to critical acclaim and instant commercial success, breaking the record for the biggest single-day worldwide gross of all time. In five days the film made $394 million, breaking the record for biggest five-day worldwide gross in history. It is also the second highest-grossing film of 2009 (behind Avatar), grossing $930 million, which places the film as the top grossing movie of all time. 1. Titanic (1997) Paramount Pictures/20th Century Fox $1,842,879,955 Directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson and Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, two members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ill-fated maiden voyage of the ship. The main characters and the central love story are fictional, but some characters (such as members of the ship's passengers and crew) are based on historical figures. Gloria Stuart plays the elderly Rose, who narrates the film in a modern day framing device. The film turned out to be an enormous critical and commercial success, winning eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It became the highest-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide total of over $1.8 billion (it is the sixth highest-grossing in North America once adjusted for inflation). Sources: WikipediaAbout the Author:
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